Tell Me Your Name
by miisfxrtune
Summary: Ladybug is kidnapped by an Akuma and Cat Noir has to do everything in his power to get her back before her transformation falls.
1. Taken

**Taken**

If Marinette had known how bad things were going to be for her that day, she would have stayed in bed.

The day had started out normal. Marinette was late for school, Alya was going on about her latest theories about Ladybug's identity, and Adrien still turned her into a stuttering mess whenever he so much as walked by her. Everything was normal. Everything was perfectly fine.

That is, until the Akuma alert when off around the city.

Miss. Bustier had tried to get everyone to remain calm, but everyone ran out of the room. All for different reasons. Alya and Nino because they were going to try and film as much of the attack as possible for the Ladyblog, Marinette and Adrien so they could find places to transform and everyone else so they could find places to hide from the impending Akuma villain wreaking havoc.

Ladybug and Cat Noir emerged and jumped onto the roof of the school.

"Good afternoon, m'lady." Cat Noir said with a smile. "Fancy seeing you here."

"No time for chit chat, Cat Noir." Ladybug said, grabbing her yoyo and swinging in the direction of the screams coming from the civilians. Cat Noir followed closely behind her and they landed on another rooftop.

"I am the Revealer!" The Akuma shouted. It was a woman wearing a black wedding dress, and Ladybug took a 'wild' guess that her akumatiztion had something to do with a wedding. Possibly even her own. "Secrets tear people apart! Everything would be so much better if we all put everything out in the open! What do you say, Paris? Let's spill the beans!"

"Hey, only _I _am allowed to make corny puns!" Cat Noir said with a slight pout, Ladybug turned to him.

"Oh, so you finally admit that they're corny?" She asked, and he quickly defended himself.

"Tha-that's not what I meant and you know it." He told her and she just chuckled at him.

"Let's go get her, kitty." She said, and Cat Noir nodded. They ran across the rooftops and watched as the Revealer hit people with blasts coming from a ring she was wearing. As soon as they were hit, they began telling every single secret they had ever kept. A lot of people began to cry as their significant others revealed that they were cheating. Ladybug felt her heart go out to them, but then refocused on the mission at hand.

"The Akuma's got to be in her ring." Ladybug told Cat Noir.

"How are we supposed to get it off of her?" He asked.

"Still trying to figure that out." She said as they leapt down in front of her.

"Game over, Revealer!" Cat Noir said. "You won't win. You may as well just hand over your Akuma now so we can all go home."

Revealer's face turned to a scowl and she grunted. "You want me, kitty cat? Come and get me!" She said and began to fly away, blasting civilians as she went.

Ladybug quickly wrapped her arm around Cat Noir's waist before swinging her yoyo, wrapping it around something sturdy and then pulling, swinging them both in the direction of Revealer.

"You sure are touchy today, m'lady." Chat said with a smirk, and Ladybug rolled her eyes as they landed on the roof of none other than her family's bakery.

"Less flirting, Chat." She said, taking her hands off of him. Ladybug dodged a blast from Revealer's ring as she realized she was being followed, and Ladybug had to shove Cat Noir out of the way of a blast as he was just staring at the bakery with some kind of look in his eyes.

"Cat Noir! Now is _not _the time to _space out_!" She hollered to him.

"Sorry, m'lady." He said, using his baton to dodge another blast. "But, I know the girl who lives here!"

"So do I!" She told him. "She's still at the school, I saw her."

"She's okay?" He asked, dodging another attack. Ladybug nodded.

"Yes, she's okay." Ladybug said, jumping over another blast aimed at her.

Cat Noir relaxed knowing that Marinette was safe, now he didn't have to worry as much and could fully put his head in the game.

Ladybug decided it was time to end this, and threw her yoyo up into the air.

"Lucky Charm!" She called out. In a burst of pink and white light, a pair of Ladybug print handcuffs fell into her hands.

"What am I supposed to do with these?" She asked herself, quietly. Suddenly, Cat Noir was tackling her and the handcuffs went flying from her hands and down into an alleyway.

"Chat!" She scolded him. "What was that for?!"

"You were so distracted with your Lucky Charm you didn't notice her going to blast you!" He said, rolling them out of the way when another blast came towards them. "I just saved you from revealing your secret identity, I think a 'thank you' is in order?"

He grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet.

"Thank you." She said sincerely. He nodded and gave her a quick smile.

"Anytime, m'lady." He said. "Now, go get that Lucky Charm of yours. I'll hold her off."

Ladybug nodded and jumped down into the alley, beginning the search for her Lucky Charm. Cat Noir turned back to face the Revealer only to see the outline of a butterfly form around her eyes. A wicked smile came across her face.

"Don't worry, Hawk Moth." She said. "I have a plan."

Revealer began flying downward, and Cat Noir grew confused. Until he saw the direction she was heading.

"Ladybug, look out!" He shouted.

Down in the alley, Ladybug had finally found the handcuffs when she hear Cat Noir shout. Her brows furrowed in confusion before her hands were suddenly drawn behind her back and the handcuffs clasped around her wrists. She gasped.

"Well, would you look at that? I've caught myself a Ladybug!" Revealer cackled. Ladybug struggled against her hold, and Cat Noir dropped down into the alley.

"Let her go!" He hollered, baton held at the ready.

Revealer tsk'd. "Naughty kitty." She said. "You need to say please."

Cat Noir was about to give her a witty comeback, but she began to rapid fire at him and he had to dodge the blasts that she aimed at him. She stopped firing, but when he looked back ready to attack, she and Ladybug were both gone.

"No." He said quietly, and he jumped back onto the roof of the bakery. He looked around, but didn't see them anywhere. He began to grow frantic. He jumped across rooftops in search of them, but it was if they had disappeared off the face of the earth. They were nowhere to be found.

_Dammit._

* * *

Ladybug grunted as she was tossed into a dark basement lit by a single lightbulb. She felt somebody else grab her roughly and take the handcuffs off. As soon as they were off, she tried to get away, but their grip on her was firm and they didn't budge. She reached for her yoyo, but realized it wasn't at her hip. She was shoved against a wall and she felt chains go around her wrists and ankles.

"Looking for this?" A voice asked, her head snapped up and she saw a man waving her yoyo in front of her.

"Who are you?" She spat. The man chuckled darkly.

"I'm Electra." He said, setting her yoyo down on a table. He lifted his hand in front of her face and Ladybug watched as electricity cracked in his palm. Her eyed widened. _Another _Akuma villain? Since when was Hawk Moth able to Akumatize two people at once?

"Save it for later, sparky." Revealer said, coming down the basement stairs with a camera in her hand. "You'll need all the energy you can get for the show."

"Show?" Ladybug asked. "What are you talking about?"

Revealer set up the camera with an evil smile. "Why the 'Reveal Ladybug's Identity' show of course."

Ladybug's eye widened, and her earrings beeped loudly in her ear.

If she had known how bad things were going to be for her today...

She would have stayed in bed.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so the first couple chapters are going to be a little bit short, but the chapters will get longer. Don't worry. Hope you enjoy!**


	2. Tell Me Your Name

**Tell Me Your Name**

Adrien was pacing in his room while Plagg ate some pieces of Camembert to get his energy back up. He was worried about Ladybug and what would happen to her while she was in the hands of the Revealer. He knew she could fend for herself and wouldn't go down without a fight, but that didn't make him worry any less. Adrien was about to call his transformation on as Plagg finished his cheese when his phone began to ring.

"Nino?" Adrien asked as he answered the phone. "What's up?"

"Adrien, it's Alya." He heard from the other line.

"Oh, hey Alya." He said. "What are you doing on Nino's phone?"

"Mine is dead." The blogger explained quickly. "Anyway, there's a reason I called."

"And what would that reason be?" He asked.

"Have you seen the news?" She asked.

"No, why?" He asked her. "What's going on?"

"Ladybug got kidnapped by an akuma! That's what's going on!" She exclaimed into the phone, and Adrien had to hold the phone away from his ear for a moment. "Turn your tv onto the news channel, now!"

In a panic, Adrien held his phone to his ear using his shoulder and rushed over to his couch. He turned his tv onto the news channel, and Nadja Chamack appeared on the screen.

"Don't be bemused, it's just the news." Nadja said. "This just in, Ladybug has been kidnapped by not one, but _two_ akuma villains known as the Revealer and Electra, and they are sending us live feed to share as we speak."

The screen cut to a dark room, and Adrien saw Ladybug chained to a wall. He felt his jaw drop.

"Are you seeing this?!" Alya asked.

"Yeah, I'm seeing it." He told her.

"It's insane, right?!" She said. "I hope Cat Noir finds her, and fast!"

All Adrien could do was nod, even though he knew Alya couldn't see his movements. He sat down on his couch and watched with wide eyes.

"Hello, citizens of Paris!" Revealer said to the camera. "We have your _precious_ Ladybug here with us, and we were thinking, since everyone has been wondering for so long who she is under the mask, we'd grant your wish! All we need is for little miss Ladybug here to tell us her name."

Revealer stepped away from the camera and now all Adrien could see was Ladybug trembling against the wall, Electra stood next to her.

"So, tell us Ladybug." Revealer said from behind the camera. "What. Is. Your. _Name?"_

"I'll never tell you!" She exclaimed.

"Wrong answer." Revealer said. "Hit her, sparky."

"With pleasure." Electra said with a wicked smile. Electricity cracked in his hand and he placed it on Ladybug's shoulder, electrocuting her. She began to scream out in pain as the electricity coursed through her body.

"Oh my god!" He heard Alya on the other line, but he didn't say anything back. He couldn't. He was speechless.

Electra took his hand off of her shoulder and Ladybug fell forward, chest heaving as she panted. Electra shoved her back against the wall.

"Wouldn't it be easier to blast me with your ring?" Ladybug asked through her pants. Adrien heard Revealer laugh behind the camera.

"Yes, it would be." She said. "But _this_, this is more fun. For _me_, at least."

Ladybug's earrings beeped and flashed, which caused Adrien to panic. She had used her Lucky Charm before she was taken, and she didn't have much time left. So, whether she told them her name or not, it wouldn't be long before her transformation fell and her identity was revealed regardless.

"Now, tell me your name." Revealer said, and Ladybug shook her head weakly.

"No." She said. He saw Electra look up.

"Hit her _harder_." Revealer said. Electra nodded, summoned the electricity into his hand again and this time placed his hand on Ladybug's abdomen.

Adrien looked away from the screen as she screams of his parter rung throughout his bedroom.

* * *

Ladybug couldn't help but sigh in relief when Electra took his hand away from her stomach. She could feel the sweat drip down her face from her forehead and she closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the wall. Sharp pain shot through her chest with every breath she took, and she felt as if she was going to fall over at any second.

She didn't get a long break though, as only a couple seconds later Electra brought _both _of his hands down on her. One on her shoulder and one on her abdomen. Her blue eyes shot wide open as the electricity shot through her body and coursed through her. She screamed and her body shook. She pulled tightly on the chains that held her to the wall and clenched her teeth.

"This could all end if you just tell us your name." She heard Revealer say through her screams. As much as Ladybug knew how dangerous revealing her secret identity was, she didn't know how much more of this she could take. She could vaguely hear her earrings beeping, but she ignored the noise.

"It's either you tell us now, or we find out anyway when your transformation falls." Revealer told her, and then she heard her telling Electra to hit her even harder with the electricity and something in her snapped.

"N-no! Stop! Please!" She screamed, but he didn't stop. "M-my name is Marinette!"

The electrocution stopped and she fell forward, the only thing keeping her from falling over being the chains around her wrists. She pants for a few moments before looking up at Revealer.

"My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

Then, her earrings gave out a final beep and her transformation fell.

* * *

All across Paris, civilians were reacting to the fact that one of their heroes was shy, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Chloé was having an especially hard time grasping the fact that she had idolized the girl who she was actually rivals with, but she set those emotions aside because nobody deserved to be electrocuted.

Marinette's parents, Tom and Sabine, were in front of the tv in their home with tears falling down their faces. They were proud of their daughter for being one of Paris' heroes, but now that they knew it was her being electrocuted, their hearts shattered into a million pieces.

Alya and Nino were staring at the tv with wide eyes, neither of them knowing what to say. They're best friend was Ladybug. Alya's blogged was all about her best friend. Alya still had Adrien on speaker phone, but he was silent.

Adrien stared at the tv as he watched Marinette pant and wince every time she moved. Revealer cackled.

"Well, hello there _Marinette._" She said, and Adrien hated the way she said her name.

"Adrien, Marinette's Kwami, Tikki, she's sending out a distress signal." Plagg said, tearing Adrien's attention away from the tv.

"Distress signal?" He asked, standing. The cat-Kwami nodded.

"As long as she's sending the signal out, we can track her." Plagg said.

"So you're saying-"

"I'm saying we can _find them_." Plagg told him. After hearing that, Adrien wasted no time.

"Plagg, claws out!"

He leapt out his bedroom window and into the streets of Paris. He slid his baton open and followed the directions displayed on the screen that were leading to the flashing Ladybug. He ran as fast as he could, all he could think about was getting to Marinette and saving her from the two Akuma's holding her captive. They would deal with them later.

Right now, he needed to find his lady.

* * *

**A/N: I wanted to add more onto this chapter, but I think I'll make it the beginning of the third chapter. Review maybe?**


	3. Finding Marinette

**Finding Marinette**

Cat Noir followed the directions on the screen of his baton with only one thing on his mind. Finding Marinette. He heard civilians in the streets talking about him as they saw him run by, but he paid no attention to them. The directions lead him to a house that looked like nobody had lived in it for at least a decade. He placed his baton back in its holster on his back and kicked the front door in, then he began searching the house for Marinette.

Down in the basement, Marinette, Revealer and Electra heard a loud bang come from upstairs.

"Go check it out." Revealer told Electra. "I'm pretty sure her little cat friend has come to join us. Just as we planned he would."

"Chat, no." Marinette said quietly, her eyelids drooped as she fell against the wall.

"While you take care of him, I'll take care of getting her Miraculous." Revealer said. Electra nodded and began walking up the basement stairs. Revealer walked up to Marinette and was about to grab her earrings when suddenly Electra came tumbling back down the stairs. Revealer turned around just as Cat Noir came leaping down the stairs and knocked her away from Marinette.

"Sorry, can't let you do that." He said, and he walked up to Marinette.

"You alright, Princess?" He asked, she didn't respond, but her eyes widened as she looked behind him.

"Chat, look out!" She told him, and he turned around in just enough time to dodge Electra's ball of lightning that had been heading straight towards him. Revealer tried shooting at him with her ring, but he dodged those too. He knew they were trying to trap him, he knew how Akuma villains worked. Battling them for four years would do that to you. So, he got them backed into a corner and then raised his hand in the air.

"Cataclysm!" He shouted, and the black magic of destruction materialized in his hand. He jumped up and destroyed the ceiling above them, everything on the floor above them came crashing down and created a barricade between Cat Noir and the akuma villains. Satisfied with his work, he quickly ran back over to Marinette, grabbing the keys for the chains off the table set up next to the camera. He quickly unlocked them and Marinette fell into his arms, too weak to stand up on her own. Cat Noir caught her with ease and held her bridal style in his arms. When he turned to leave he noticed the live feed from the camera was still rolling, so he walked up to the camera.

"Nothing more to see here, everyone." He said, and with that he turned the camera off and began making his way out of the house. He looked down at Marinette and noticed that she had passed out, and he was honestly grateful. She needed the rest after everything she had just been through. The flashing of his ring brought to his attention that we wasn't going to be able to make it to his house, and that he couldn't bring Marinette there. He had seen the reporters outside her family's bakery after it was revealed she was Ladybug and he knew that Marinette definitely couldn't go home for a while. Not having much time left and not knowing where else to go, Cat Noir leapt in the direction of a house that his family owned, but hadn't used since his mother disappeared. Thankfully it was close enough and he was able to quickly pick the lock to the front door and bring her inside.

He laid her down on the couch in the living room and his transformation fell as he stood back up. Plagg flew put of his ring and looked his chosen in the eyes.

"You did good, kid." He told him. Adrien smiled sadly at his Kwami.

"Maybe." He said. "She still got hurt though, _and _her secret identity was revealed."

"Don't worry." He heard a voice say, he looked down and saw none other than Ladybug's Kwami peaking out from under Marinette's jacket. "We'll figure something out."

"Tikki!" Plagg exclaimed, and zipped down to embrace the other Kwami. Tikki giggled a little as Plagg hugged her.

"Don't worry, Plagg." She said. "I'm okay. I promise."

"You're Marinette's Kwami?" Adrien asked, Tikki let go of Plagg and nodded before flying up to look him in the eyes.

"Hello Adrien. It's nice to finally meet you." She said. "And yes, I am. I tried to hold out for as long as possible, but I had to enable her healing abilities because of the electrocution and it drained my energy faster than usual after a Lucky Charm usage."

"It's alright." Adrien told her. "Marinette won't blame you."

"I know she won't." Tikki said. "I just wasn't sure if _you_ would."

"Oh, Tikki." Adrien said, and he patted the little Kwami lightly on the head. "Of course I don't blame you. This wasn't your fault, it was Hawk Moth's."

Mentioning their enemy finally brought something to Adrien's attention.

"Oh. My. _God_." He said, eyes going wide.

"What is it?" Plagg asked.

"Hawk Moth." Adrien told them. "Marinette revealed herself on _live tv_ and I have no doubt that he was watching."

Tikki's eyes widened in understanding. "So...that means-"

"He knows who she is." Plagg finished for her, and Adrien nodded.

"Marinette may never be able to go home again."

* * *

Marinette felt like she was floating. There was nothing around her but darkness, but she didn't mind. She felt content, and safe.

That didn't last for long.

Suddenly, she was back there. Chained to the wall and being electrocuted as punishment for not telling them her name. Her stupid name.

The pain of the electricity coursing through her body was too much. She couldn't take it anymore.

"My name is Marinette." She said, but the electricity continued on.

"I-I said my name is Marinette." She said, a little louder this time. Still, Electra didn't take his hands off of her.

"S-st-stop!" She cried out. "Please, stop!"

He still didn't take his hands off, he only smiled wickedly at her and if her body wasn't already convulsing due to the electrocution, she probably would have shivered.

"I told you my name! Please stop!" Marinette cried, feeling tears mix in with the sweat dripping down her face. She screamed and let out a sob as he continued to electrocute her. She couldn't take it anymore.

"My name is Marinette!" She cried out. "My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng! Please, stop! My name is Marinette!"

_"Marinette_!"

She shot up with a gasp for air, her eyes going wide. She looked frantically around the room, and when she didn't recognize where she was, she freaked out and started to thrash around.

"No!" She exclaimed. "I told you my name! Please, don't do this!"

"Marinette, it's okay!" She heard a voice. It sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite pinpoint who it belonged to. "Marinette, it's okay! Princess, you're safe!"

Hearing the voice call her Princess is what made her stop. Her head snapped in the direction of the voice, and there in front of her was her partner, Cat Noir.

"Ch-Chat?" She asked, breathlessly. He nodded, slowly coming closer to her.

"Hey." He said. "Everything's okay. I got you out. You're safe now."

Cat Noir's heart shattered as he looked at her. The look in her eyes...she looked so broken. He hated seeing her this way, and he hated Hawk Moth even more for causing it.

Marinette said nothing more as tears filled her eyes and she broke down crying. Cat Noir wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. She wrapped her arms around his torso and clung to him tightly, laying her head on his shoulder. He held her there, rubbing circles on her back as she broke down. He didn't say anything. Truth be told he didn't know _what_ to say.

"W-wait." She said, pulling back and looking up into his eyes. "Y-you know? That..."

"You're Ladybug?" He finished for her, and nodded. "Yeah, I know. Sadly, all of Paris knows now, too."

"No." Marinette whimpered. "This...this isn't how I wanted you to find out. I wasn't even sure if I wanted you to ever find out at all. I thought...I _knew_ you'd be upset that it was me."

"Why do you say that?" He asked her, genuinely shocked she would think he would be upset about the fact that she was Ladybug.

"Because..." She started. "All those times we saw each other and you would talk about how much you loved Ladybug, you _trusted me _with all of that and the entire time I _was_ Ladybug. That, and...I'm not much."

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng don't you ever say that about yourself ever again." He scolded her. "You are _so much_."

She shook her head. "No, _Ladybug_ is." She said. "I'm just little baker girl Marinette."

"What's so bad about being a baker girl? I think that's pretty cool. Besides, you're also aspiring _fashion designer_ Marinette." He said. "And you're brave, kind, selfless, thoughtful, compassionate...Marinette you are _so many_ things. Why can't you see how amazing you are?"

Marinette gave him a watery smile and hugged him again. "Thank you, Cat Noir."

He smiled and held her tighter. "Anytime, m'lady."

They pulled apart and she looked up at him again. "So, where are we exactly?" She asked.

"We're at a house that my family owns." He told her. "We used to come here every summer, but uh...something happened and now we don't use this place all that much anymore. If we do, it's for storage."

Marinette nodded, and then suddenly remembered something important.

"Tikki!" She exclaimed. "Where's Tikki, is she okay?"

"I'm right here, Marinette." The Kwami said, flying up to her from the coffee table.

"Tikki!" Marinette exclaimed and the Kwami cuddled her chosen's cheek. Marinette held her close with her hand. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"I could say the same for you, Marinette." Tikki said. "I'm sorry I couldn't hold out longer."

"Oh, Tikki, you don't need to apologize." Marinette told her. "It wasn't your fault."

"Told you she wouldn't blame you." Cat Noir said. Tikki smiled at him.

"Thank you for looking after her." Marinette said.

"Of course." Cat Noir said. "Anything for the princess."

Marinette couldn't help but giggle a little and and smiled at him, but then she realized something and her face fell.

"What's wrong?" Cat Noir asked her, Marinette rose from the couch and began to pace.

"You said _all of Paris_ knows my identity now?" She asked, and he nodded. "So..._Hawk Moth_ knows who I am?"

Cat Noir blinked in realization when he saw where she was going with this. He looked at her sadly and nodded. Marinette let out a shaky breath and clenched her eyes shut. She turned to the fire place -which had a fire going that Cat Noir had started a little while ago- and was silent for a few moments.

"I can't go home, can I?" She asked quietly after a minute. Cat Noir stood from the couch and walked up behind her.

"No," He told her. "Not for a while at least."

Marinette let out a heavy sigh and turned to face him, she shook her head.

"No." She said. "I can't go home at all. Not until Hawk Moth is gone."

"Marinette, who knows how long that will take?" Cat Noir said. "Besides, this is our last year of school and you need to graduate."

"Chat." Marinette silenced him. "It's okay. I can go back to school after he's defeated. I'm not going to put anybody's lives in danger just because I'm afraid of falling behind."

Cat Noir sighed. "You're _right_." He said, and she gave him a small smile.

"I'm always right, silly kitty." She said, and Cat Noir chuckled.

"Marinette." He said as he laughed. "This is a serious situation this is _not _the time for jokes!"

Marinette giggled. "Oh, and making corny puns during an Akuma battle is an appropriate time?"

"My puns are _paw_some, thank you very much." He said, which sent them both doubling over in fits of laughter.

They both knew they shouldn't be laughing, but they couldn't help it. They needed a good laugh.

And something told them that they weren't going to get a chance to laugh like this again for a _long _time.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so I made this chapter a little longer and things are going to start getting a little more serious as we dive further into the plot. Also, things will be addressed in the upcoming chapters, like Alya's reaction to Marinette being Ladybug and going into hiding, Chloé's view on everything, Nino's, Marinette's parents, basically almost everyone. You're also going to see some of Hawk Moth's frustration of not being able to find Marinette and get her Miraculous, and the two Akuma's will be dealt with so hold onto your hats ladies and gents because you're about to start on a wild ride. **


	4. Revealer & Electra PART 1

**Revealer & Electra PART 1**

Adrien bounced his leg impatiently in class waiting for the final bell to ring. He hated leaving her alone all day, and while she reassured him that she would be fine, he still felt bad about having to leave. It wasn't like he could focus on the lessons anyway. He was surprised anybody else would. All he could think about was Revealer and Electra. They were going to strike again, that was inevitable. Their Akuma's still had to be purified, but Adrien was worried about how Marinette would react to battling her captors. Fighting them wouldn't be like any other Akuma battle for them, and he knew that.

God, all he wanted was to be out of the classroom and back with Marinette, but he knew he wouldn't be able to see her for a while after school anyway. He had fencing and Chinese lessons after school, which annoyed him to no end. He hated leaving her alone for so long, especially since they both knew that Hawk Moth was most likely plotting his next move. Adrien had a feeling that something was coming. Something big. Something neither he or Marinette could ever see coming. It sacred him.

The dismissal bell finally rang and Adrien shot up from his seat and began putting his things into his book bag.

"Yo, dude, Adrien are you okay?" Nino asked, Adrien turned to look at his friend and gave him a small smile.

"Uh, yeah." He told him. "Just...thinking about Marinette is all."

"Oh, I know, crazy right?" Nino asked him. "I can't believe she's Ladybug!"

Adrien chuckled nervously. "Yeah...crazy."

Nino sighed. "I'm worried about her." He said. "I know Cat Noir saved her, but she hasn't come home. I just hope she's alright. Alya's been going crazy not knowing where she is or how she's doing."

Adrien gave his friend a genuine smile and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sure wherever she is, she's okay." He told him. "Cat Noir is probably looking after her, so I doubt she's out there all alone."

Nino smiled at his best friend. "You're right." He said. "Thanks, Adrien."

"Of course." He said. "Text me if you need anything, yeah?"

Nino nodded and Adrien left the classroom. He walked out the doors of the school and into the car that was waiting for him outside.

_Yay. Fencing__. _Adrien thought sarcastically.

He was already dreading the next few hours of his day.

* * *

Chloé Bourgeois couldn't get Marinette Dupain-Cheng out of her head. It bothered her a little that she was thinking so hard about her supposed arch rival.

Contrary to popular belief, Chloé actually didn't hate Marinette as much as she made everybody believe she did. If Chloé was honest with everyone, she would say how envious she was of the blue haired baker girl. Sure, Chloé had money, a lot of money, and it made her -somewhat- happy. But Marinette? She didn't care about money.

Marinette had a _family_. She had a _mother_ who actually loved her and a father who would do anything to keep her happy. Sure, Chloé's dad did whatever she asked of him, but that was because she scared him. She knew she did. And at first, it felt good to be feared, but after scaring everybody off...she grew lonely. Nobody liked her, she didn't have any real friends, and that hurt. So, she channeled all the hurt and the anger into her attitude and became the mean girl of the school. Chloé decided she could deal with the loneliness, because if she was always alone, that meant that nobody could leave her the way her mother had left her and her dad.

But then she met Sabrina, and as much as she convinced everyone she was only using Sabrina for her own personal gain, she genuinely cared for her. Not that she would ever tell Sabrina that. When they first became friends, Sabrina had tried to convince Chloé to patch things up with Marinette and everyone else in their class, but Chloé refused. Not because she didn't want to, she did, but she was afraid that after all the damage she'd cost nobody would give her a second chance and she's be alone all over again, having gotten her hopes up for nothing.

But of course, Chloé knew she was wrong. She knew that Marinette would give her a chance, despite how cruel she had always been to her. Truth be told, Chloé felt like she didn't deserve anybody's forgiveness for her actions. Especially Marinette's. So, she remained her cold, cruel self.

Then Ladybug and Cat Noir showed up one day and became the beloved heroes of Paris. Chloé loved Ladybug, and wanted to share her love for the super heroine with people, but she only had Sabrina. So, she made her listen to her rants and theories about the red clad hero. She knew it annoyed Sabrina sometimes because she couldn't shut up about her, but who else did Chloé have? So, Sabrina always listened, and Chloé had always been grateful for that.

To find out that her favorite hero and 'arch rival' were the same person...was something else entirely.

Chloé had watched the live feed with Sabrina, crying on her shoulder as she watched Ladybug be tortured all because she wouldn't tell Revealer and Electra her name. Then, when she finally caved, telling them and all of Paris her name, and her transformation fell, Chloé didn't know how to feel. She was in shock.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was Ladybug. _Shy_, _clumsy_, Marinette was the _brave_ and _graceful_ Ladybug. Sure, when Chloé finally connected all the dots in her head it all made sense, but at first she was confused. How? How was she able to be Ladybug and still have time for everything else in her life? Chloé knew that Marinette was almost _always_ busy, so how she had the ability to balance all that _and _save Paris for a living was beyond her. It took her a minute, but she figured out how Marinette did it.

She did it because she wanted to. No matter how tired she was with everything she had going on, she cared about the people of Paris, so swinging into action to save them was nothing she had to think about. Marinette was selfless, so it made sense to Chloé that she would put the civilians' safety before her own. That's how Marinette was, even when she wasn't wearing red and black spandex and swinging around the city on a yoyo.

Finding out Marinette was Ladybug only made Chloé more envious of her classmate, but she shoved that envy down, because her classmate had just been electrocuted all because she wanted to protect her identity. Something she had the right to do. Chloé felt her heart go out to Marinette, and when she thought about all the times she had been a royal bitch to her, she began to cry harder on Sabrina's shoulder. And in that moment, Chloé made a promise to herself.

The next time she saw Marinette -if she ever saw her again after this- she would make it up to her. She would make it up to everyone. She would _earn _their forgiveness and their friendship, and she would gain their trust. She was tired of being feared and hated. She was finally ready to love people again the way that she used to. And if by chance they actually find it in their hearts to give her a chance...

There was no way in _hell_ she was going to waste it.

* * *

Marinette watched the news on the tv in one of the upstairs bedrooms like a hawk. She was looking for any stories about Hawk Moth, Revealer or Electra, but there were none. In fact, the only stories on the news were about her. As much as it pained her to watch them and hear the things people said about her being Ladybug -good _and_ bad- she still watched.

_"This is a _teenage_ girl." _A man's voice echoed from the tv. _"All this time we've been trusting a _teenager_ with our lives. She's just a kid how are we so sure that she-"_

The tv screen went black as it turned off and Marinette looked in the doorway of the bedroom to see Cat Noir standing there with the remote in his hand. She hadn't even heard him come up.

"Don't watch this crap." He told her. "Don't let the bad things they say about you get to your head. None of it's true anyway."

"What time is it?" Marinette asked, ignoring his statements. Cat Noir gave her a look, but sighed and told her the time anyway.

"It's almost nine." He told her.

"Oh, I didn't realize I had been watching for that long." She said. "I just...I don't feel right. Sitting and doing nothing while Revealer and Electra are most likely plotting their next move."

Cat Noir walked into the bedroom and sat down at the foot of the bed, Marinette shook her head, angry with herself.

"I should have fought back harder." She said. "If I had fought harder, I would have been able to get their Akumas, and-"

"And nothing." Cat Noir said. "Marinette, you had five minutes left before your transformation fell so even if you had managed to capture their Akuma's and purify them all on your own, they still had that camera rolling live feed and your identity still would have been revealed because you would have been too preoccupied with fighting them both."

Marinette said nothing and looked down to her hands. She knew he was right, but she still wanted to believe that she could have gotten away. She hated feeling like some damsel in distress. She was _Ladybug_. Ladybug didn't need anybody to save her.

Or at least she had thought she didn't.

"I never thanked you." She said suddenly, and Cat Noir's brows furrowed in confusion as she brought her head up to look at him. "For getting me out of there."

Realization dawned on his face and he gave her a smile. "You don't need to thank me, Marinette." He told her.

"Yes, I do." She said, and she reached over and placed a hand on his knee, she looked up into his piercing green eyes and spoke.

"Thank you," She said. "for saving me and getting me out of there."

Cat Noir smiled at her and placed one of his hands over hers.

"Anytime, Princess." He said. She smiled at him and then to both of their surprises, pulled him into a hug. Cat Noir had to take a moment to get over the bit of shock that coursed through him before he hugged her back. He caressed her back with one of his hands and she held him tighter.

"I don't know what I would do without you, Cat Noir." She said into his chest. "You're the best partner a girl could ever ask for."

Cat Noir smiled at her words and proceeded to pull her closer to him, tightening his grip on her a little.

"Right back at you, bugaboo." He said, and she giggled lightly into his chest at hearing the nickname.

The moment they were having, however, was ruined by the sound of Cat Noir's cellphone ringing.

"It's a friend of mine from school." He told her. "I have to take this." She nodded.

"Go on." She told him. "I promise not to listen in."

Cat Noir smiled before grabbing his phone and exiting the bedroom, closing the door behind him. He answered the phone and brought it up to his ear.

"Hey Nino, what's up?" He answered quietly.

"Dude, are you near a tv?" Nino asked on the other line. Adrien nodded.

"Yeah, why?" He asked him.

"Turn it onto the news channel now." He told him. "Revealer and Electra are back!"

At hearing this, Adrien burst back into the bedroom, grabbed the remote from where he set it on the bed and turn the tv on.

"What's going on?" Marinette asked, and Cat Noir brought his finger up to his lips to tell her to be quiet because he was still on the phone. She nodded in understanding and turned to face the tv.

Marinette and Cat Noir watched as Revealer and Electra's faces appeared on the tv screen.

"Greetings, citizens of Paris!" Revealer said. "I hope you enjoyed our _show_ the other day! Ladybug, oh excuse me, _Marinette_ was a _lovely_ guest to have!"

Marinette visibly winced when Revealer said her name, and a shiver ran down her spine. Cat Noir spared a quick glance at her before turning his attention back to the tv.

"Now, we're here to request that little miss _Marinette_ come out of hiding." Revealer said. "If she doesn't want all of Paris to be in eternal darkness because that's _exactly_ what Electra will make happen if she doesn't show up here at the Eiffel Tower in _ten__minutes_ and give us her Miraculous."

"Dude, are you seeing this?!" Nino asked from the other line.

"Yeah, I'm seeing it." Adrien said, and Marinette glanced at him.

"She better not show up!" Nino said. "If she does...I don't even want to think about what would happen."

"Yeah, me either." He said. "Hey, I've gotta go. My father wants to see me."

"Oh geez, okay, I'll let you go man." Nino said. "Talk to you later."

"Okay, bye." Adrien said and he hung up the phone before turning to Marinette whose eye were still glued to the tv watching Revealer and Electra threaten the city. Cat Noir turned the tv off once again and caught her attention.

"I know what you're thinking." He told her. "And I'm not going to let you go."

"Chat," She started, but he cut her off.

"No, Marinette." He said. "I'm not going to let you give up your Miraculous just because those two freaks are threatening to cause a blackout. The electricity throughout the city can be fixed, giving up your Miraculous isn't a fixable thing."

"But even if the power is fixed, Electra could always just take it away again." She said, rising from the bed. "It's an _endless_ cycle, Chat. Can't you see that? I have to end this. I have to go."

"No." He said. "I'll go. I'll get their Akuma's and find someway to catch them until I can get them back to you so you can purify them."

"Chat, please-"

"No, Marinette!" He exclaimed. "You're staying here and away from them, and that's final."

With that, Cat Noir left Marinette standing in the room staring at where he once stood. She waited until she heard the front door close and called for Tikki. Her Kwami came flying from the nightstand by the bed, a smile on her face.

"I'm surprised he though you were going to listen to him." Tikki said, and Marinette giggled.

"Me too." She said. "He's such a silly kitty, that one."

"Does he not know that you would never give up your Miraculous to _any_ Akuma for any reason?" Tikki asked, and Marinette shrugged.

"Who knows what goes on in that boys head." She said.

"Well, just say the words, Marinette." Tikki said, and Marinette nodded.

"Tikki, spots on!"

* * *

The ten minutes were up, and everybody in Paris knew it. Revealer and Electra were stood in front of the Eiffel Tower with evil smirks on their faces.

"Looks like Marinette isn't as much of a hero as everyone thinks she is." She said. "What a shame." She nodded to Electra who raised his hand in the air and was about to knock all the power in the city out when a voice came from behind them.

"Hey _sparky_." They turned to see none other then Cat Noir standing behind them. "Why don't you pick on someone your own frequency?"

"Cat Noir!" Revealer said. "So glad you could join us! Tell me, where is that dear partner of yours?"

Cat Noir went to say that Ladybug wouldn't be coming, but the sound of a yoyo cut him off as Ladybug swung in and landed next to him.

"Sorry I'm late." She said as her yoyo rolled back up into her hand. "Traffic was _terrible_."

"What are you doing here?" Cat Noir hissed at her quietly. She ignored him and instead walked towards Revealer and Electra.

"You want my Miraculous?" She asked. "Come and get it!"

Revealer and Electra charged at her, but she leapt out of the way with ease and flipped over them. She landed behind them and smirked triumphantly.

"Come on, is that the best you've got?!" She asked. "I've seen way better Akuma's than you two in my day. Is Hawk Moth getting lazy on me?"

They turned and charged at her again, and she almost laughed as she threw her yoyo up into the air, wrapping it around a railing on the Eiffel Tower and swung away, grabbing Cat Noir along the way and bringing him up with her. They landed on one of the midlevels of the Eiffel Tower, and watched as Revealer and Electra fired at them and missed every time.

"I thought I told you not to come?!" Cat Noir scolded her.

"And I thought you knew me well enough to know that I would _never_ give my Miraculous up to anyone for anything." Ladybug snapped. "I'm here to end this. I'm here to purify their Akuma's so Hawk Moth doesn't have any control over them anymore. I'm here to _save_ them, along with the rest of Paris. Will you _please_ let me do that?"

Cat Noir knew there was no point in arguing with her, especially not now. Besides, he knew she was right and he should have known better. He sighed.

"I do know that. I'm sorry." He said.

"It's okay, Chat. Let's just finish this." She said, and they rounded a corner only to come face to face with Revealer and Electra once more. How they had gotten up so fast, neither of them knew, and neither of them cared at that point.

"Oh yes." Revealer said. "I do believe it's time to finish this indeed."

* * *

**A/N: Okay, I know the chapter is called Revealer and Electra and then I put it all at the end and it wasn't a lot, but there will be more in the next chapter which will be part 2. So just be patient. Also, we got to see into Chloé's mind and how she was taking the situation which I hope was a good arc for her. Nino and Alya are next so look forward to that in the chapters to come! And also YES I will bring Marinette's parents in at some point. I haven't quite figured out how to work them in yet, but I am working on it I promise I have a few ideas on how I wanna do it. Anyway I hope you enjoyed the chapter! **


	5. Revealer & Electra PART 2

**Revealer & Electra PART 2**

Revealer sent out a blast from her ring at Ladybug, who deflected it with her yoyo. Ladybug then charged at Revealer, who only smirked as she came closer. Both began throwing and punches and dodging hits from each other with Cat Noir and Electra went at it. Cat Noir was channelling all of his anger into his fighting, because he _was_ angry. He was angry at Electra for kidnapping Ladybug, he was angry at Electra for torturing her, he was angry at both of them for forcing her to reveal her identity. He was angry at Hawk Moth -the evil mastermind behind it all- for ever existing in the first place and causing so much chaos. He was angry with himself most of all, though. If he had been quicker, Ladybug never would have been taken by Revealer in the first place and she never would have been tortured into revealing herself.

Since he was a little caught up in his thoughts, Electra was able to knock him off his feet and onto his back, knocking the wind out of him. As he lay on the floor, he looked over and saw Electra making his way towards Ladybug.

"Hey Marinette." He said, causing Ladybug to turn and face him. He held up his hand and made a ball of electricity crack in his palm. "Did you miss me?"

Seeing him standing there with his electricity at the ready made Marinette freeze, and then she was back there. She was back in that basement, chained to the wall and being electrocuted and tortured into revealing her identity. She stood there frozen, a look of fear on her face and tears welling up in her eyes. Cat Noir finally gathered his bearings and leapt back up to his feet. He saw Revealer start to reach for Ladybug's earrings as Electra taunted her with his electricity and something in him snapped.

He charged at Revealer, staff held at the ready. "Don't touch her!" He cried out, not noticing how Revealer smirked. He was falling right into her trap. When he was close enough, she ripped his staff from his hands and threw him off guard. She knocked him out of the way and he fell against a wall, he lifted his head and watched as Revealer brought his staff down hard on the back of Ladybug's knee. He clenched his eyes shut in a wince as he heard her cry out in pain, her knee loudly popping and snapping in places he knew it _definitely _wasn't supposed to. He quickly leapt back into action, catching Ladybug before she hit the ground and pulling her away from the villains before them.

"Chat." She cried out, desperately as he carried her away and set her back on her feet next to a wall for her to lean on. "They're too strong. I don't know if we'll be able to beat them."

Cat Noir pulled her down to dodge a blast from Electra, and internally winced when she let out a cry of pain when she bent her knee. He put two fingers under her chin and brought her face up to look at him.

"We can do this." He told her. "We can beat them. We're the unstoppable Cat and Bug Team, remember?"

Ladybug was silent for a moment before smiling. "The _Bug and Cat Team_." She said, giggling a little.

"Marinette, not is not the time for laughing." He said, holding back a chuckle of his own. Ladybug forced herself to stop laughing and her face grew serious.

"I think Electra's akuma is in the bracelet he's wearing." She told him. "There's nothing else on him that could be where it is."

Cat Noir nodded, and then yanked her out of the way of another blast, this time from Revealer. She let out a yipe as her knee with the ground, and Cat Noir apologized. She brushed him off.

"I've got to get my staff back." He said, and she nodded at him.

"Go get it, I'll be fine. I promise." She said. He was hesitant, but in the end, he nodded and took off for Revealer and Electra. Revealer was caught off guard at the sudden attack and dropped the staff, which worked out great for him. He grabbed it off the floor just in time to use it to dodge a blast from her ring.

Meanwhile, Ladybug tossed her yoyo up in the air, yelling out, "Lucky Charm!" and in a flash of bright pink light, the Lucky Charm materialized and fell into her hands. She looked down and realized that it was handcuffs again. It made sense, seeing as how she didn't get the chance to use them during their first run-in with Revealer. She looked around, but couldn't quite see how to use it. So, she slowly stood up on her good leg and use the wall to hop around the corner where she saw Cat Noir fighting Electra and Revealer. Suddenly, her vision zeroed in on various things around her, and she figured out exactly how to use it.

"Cat Noir, lead them over here!" She called out, and he nodded.

"You got it, m'lady!" He said, dodging blasts and throwing punches. He began making his way to where Ladybug stood, but not making it obvious to Revealer and Electra that they were about to meet their demise.

When he reached her, she quickly snatched his staff from his hands and extended it so it went through a gap in the railing of the Eiffel Tower, and then set it down. Revealer and Electra walked right into the staff and tripped, Revealer's left hand and Electra's right going up in the air. Ladybug quickly jumped up and locked one of each handcuff around their hands, cuffing them together. They fell to the ground below them with huffs of pain, and Ladybug made sure to land on her good leg, using the railing to balance herself. She knelt down and grabbed the bracelet off of Electra's wrist and the wring off of Revealer's finger.

"Cat Noir, do your thing." She said, and tossed the ring in the air to him. He nodded in understanding and put his right hand in the air.

"Cataclysm!" He shouted, and the magic of destruction materialized in his palm. He caught the ring and it disintegrated, a black butterfly flew out of it. Ladybug broke the bracelet and watched for a moment as the akuma flew out before opening her yoyo.

"No more evil doing for you, little akumas." She said. "Time to de-evilize!" She caught both butterflies in her yoyo, and purified them. "Gotcha."

She reopened the yoyo and two, pure white butterflies flew out. "Bye-bye little butterflies." She said, and then she grabbed grabbed the handcuffs and tossed them into the air.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" She cried out, and all over the city, the damage caused by Revealer and Electra was erased.

"Do you think the Miraculous cure made everyone forget your identity?" Cat Noir asked, walking up to her. Ladybug shook her head.

"Sadly, no." She said. "If they hadn't been broadcasting everything live, I would have said maybe, but you still remember don't you?"

When he nodded, she sighed. "Since you remember, that means everybody else does too. As much as I wish they didn't."

Cat Noir smiled sadly at her, and she smiled back. They helped the people who had been akumatized understand what happened to them, leaving out the fact that they tortured Ladybug and forced her to reveal herself, neither one of them wanting to talk about it or make the akuma victims feel bad. They also found out why they had been akumatized in the first place.

Alice -Revealer- had been left at the altar because the groom was having an affair with her sister. Talk about family drama.

Arthur -Electra- had been fired from his job at an electrical company and didn't know how to break the news to his family. The two heroes felt their hearts go out to them both.

Their Miraculouses began to flash, indicating they had little time left before they transformed back, and Cat Noir didn't want Ladybug doing anything too drastic with her knee, she he held onto her and brought them down from the Eiffel Tower on his staff. As soon as they were down, they were surrounded by the press, most of them calling Ladybug Marinette and asking her a ton of questions. Ladybug shielded her eyes from the flashes of cameras as Cat Noir led them away from the crowd of reporters, her shoulder slung over his shoulders as he helped her walk.

"Marinette!" Ladybug heard a voice. She turned to see none other than Alya running towards them, calling out her name. Ladybug turned her head back to face Cat Noir.

"Chat, get me out of here." She said. "I can't face her. Not yet."

Cat Noir nodded in understanding, and scooped her up in his arms, bridal style and then used his staff to launch them up onto a rooftop and then began to run.

"Marinette, wait!" She heard Alya yell, and she swore she could hear the tears in her voice. "Marinette, please! Don't go!"

Ladybug felt her heart shatter as she listened to her best friends' broken voice fade away as they got farther away. She hated doing this, but she had to. She wasn't ready to face Alya, and she didn't know when she would be. It was best for everyone she cared about that she keep her distance anyway. It would keep them out of danger.

Ladybug's earrings gave out a final beep before she transformed back into Marinette in Cat Noir's arms, it was in that moment that the pain in her knee became drastically worse and she let out a whimper.

"We're almost there, Princess. Don't worry." She heard Cat Noir say, and then heard his ring give off a second warning beep. She truly hoped they were as close as he said they were, he didn't have much time left before he transformed back.

Marinette held onto him tighter and felt tears fall down her face. She hated this. She hated that this was her knew life. Running away from the people she cared about and having to stay in hiding so Hawk Moth didn't find her. She felt bad for Cat Noir, too. He shouldn't have to deal with this. He wasn't the one who was tortured or revealed on live tv. He didn't deserve the chaos that ensued after it all.

They managed to make it back to the house, and Cat Noir had just set Marinette down on the couch in the living room when his ring gave out a final beep and he began to de-transform. He began to turn around and Marinette closed her eyes, but just before she did, she saw his shirt, and she recognized it immediately. She reopened her eyes and looked at him, even though he was facing the wall, she knew it was him.

"Adrien?"

* * *

Alya Césaire watched as Cat Noir ran away with her injured best friend in his arms. She stopped running and just watched as he ran until she couldn't see him anymore, then she began to walk home, lost in thought.

She still couldn't wrap her head around it. It had been three days since it was revealed that Marinette was Ladybug, but she still couldn't grasp it. Her best friend was her all time favorite super heroine. All this time she had ranted to Marinette about her theories about who Ladybug could be, and she had been right in front of her the entire time. She ran a _blog _all about her best friend.

When Marinette had first revealed herself and her transformation fell on tv, Alya couldn't believe what she was seeing. It took Nino pinching her to convince her that she in fact was _not _dreaming. Marinette really was Ladybug. And in that moment she began to cry. Her best friend had just been tortured and she had seen it happen on live television. Alya couldn't imagine how Marinette's parents must have felt in that moment.

After Cat Noir ended the broadcast, Alya seemed to snap out of the daze she was in and told Nino they needed to go and see Marinette's parents. Her boyfriend hadn't protested as they quickly got their shoes on and ran all the way to Marinette's house. When the door to the apartment opened and Tom and Sabine saw Alya and Nino standing there, they had just hugged them both and they all cried together, even Nino. Normally, he wasn't one to cry, but Marinette was his friend and he cared about her a lot. He hated seeing her hurt.

As Alya continued her walk home, she thought of all the times where it was so..._obvious_. When she was almost sacrificed and traded for a Greek Goddess and Marinette had disappeared, only for Ladybug to appear moments later. All the times Marinette had missed school while Ladybug had been out fighting akuma's. How Alya almost _always_ found Marinette so close to where akuma battles had taken place after they were over. The reporter in Alya was wondering how she missed it, however, she was mostly wondering why Marinette hadn't told her. Did she feel like she couldn't tell her? Did she think she would post it on the Ladyblog? Did she not trust her? Alya didn't know, and she was going crazy not knowing. She just wanted to see her best friend, and talk to her, and ask her all the questions she had been asking herself over and over for the passed three days with no answers.

Not only did she want answers, but she wanted to know that Marinette was okay. She wanted to know she wasn't sleeping on the streets or anything like that. She wanted to touch her best friend and hug her and never let her go. She wanted to tell her that she loved her and that she would always be here for her.

She wanted to tell her that she forgave her for not telling her she was Ladybug.

She did forgive her. In the end it was her choice whether or not to tell her, and Alya _did_ understand, but she still wanted to know why. She made sure Marinette knew that she could always tell her anything, no matter how weird, crazy or dark. She always made sure Marinette knew she could trust her with anything.

Alya looked around at the street lights as she walked and let out a sigh.

"Stay safe, Marinette."

* * *

_Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, holy shit._

That's all Marinette was thinking. _Holy shit_.

Adrien Agreste was Cat Noir. He was her flirty, cocky, crime fighting partner. She couldn't believe it. While she always made sure they obeyed the rule of not revealing their identities to each other, she did wonder sometimes who Cat Noir was under the mask, and to think that all this time he had _literally _been sitting right in front of her was mind boggling.

"I'm sorry." Was the first thing that came out of Adrien's mouth as he turned around to face Marinette. "I tried to get here as fast as possible. I know how you feel about the whole 'secret identity' thing."

Marinette said nothing as she slowly rose from the couch and began moving towards him.

"Marinette, are you crazy? Sit back down! Who knows _what _Revealer did to your knee." Adrien said, grabbing onto Marinette's arms and steadying her. Marinette made him pause when she brought her hands up to either side of his face and smiled.

"It's you." Was all she said. "Of course it's you."

"Wait," He said, taking her hands from his face and then holding them in his own. "You're not upset that I just accidentally revealed myself to you?" Marinette shook her head.

"No, I should be..." She said. "But I guess it's only fair. I mean, you knew who I was but I didn't know who you were. So, I guess this makes us even."

He scoffed lightly and smiled. "Yeah, I guess it does." He said.

Marinette smiled brightly up at him and subconsciously put weight on her bad leg, causing pain to shoot up her leg and make her stumble with a cry of pain. Adrien caught her and gently helped her sit back on the couch.

"Easy there." He said. "We should probably take you to a doctor or something."

"Would that even be safe?" She asked, and Adrien shrugged.

"I don't know." He said. "But I'm willing to take the risk, your knee looks nasty."

It was in that moment that Marinette realized she hadn't actually looked at her knee, and so she did and she realized what Adrien meant. It really did look nasty. It was so swollen she could barely see her kneecap, and it was red, black and blue all over.

"Okay, yeah, maybe seeing a doctor wouldn't be the worst idea in the world." She said, and she saw Adrien nod.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." He said. "I'll get Plagg fad and then we can go."

"Plagg?" Marinette questioned, and then a black, cat like Kwami flew out from Adrien's jacket.

"That's me!" He said. "May I just say is it _relieving _for the cat to finally be out of the bag. Do you have any idea how much energy I had to use over the passed three days?"

"And _how_ much camembert did I give you before each transformation?" Adrien asked, giving Plagg a look. "I don't even know how much so stop complaining. Sorry Marinette, I guess I should have mentioned that my Kwami is a bit of a _whiner_."

"Hey!" Plagg said defensively. "I do _not_ whine!"

"Sure, whatever." Adrien said. "Let's go get your cheese."

Marinette couldn't help but giggle as she listened to them argue while they headed to the kitchen, their relationship reminding her of her own with Tikki. As if on cue, her Kwami came out from under her jacket.

"Are you alright, Marinette?" Tikki asked, and Marinette nodded.

"Yeah, I'm okay, Tikki." Marinette assured her Kwami. "I promise."

"I used a little bit of your healing abilities before you transformed back, so the damage shouldn't be as bad as it originally was." Tikki said, and Marinette smiled at her.

"Thank you, Tikki." She said, and Tikki nodded, smiling at her chosen.

"Alright." Adrien said, coming back into the living room. "Plagg's full of camembert and all energized."

"Okay, we should probably get going then, right?" Marinette asked, and Adrien nodded. "Then let's go and...get this over with. I hate hospitals."

"I can agree with you there." Adrien said, and then he called on his transformation. "Plagg, claws out!"

In a flash of green and white light, Cat Noir now stood where Adrien once did and he smiled at Marinette.

"Let's go get that knee of yours checked out, shall we, Princess?" He asked, scooping her up into his arms. She giggled a little.

"Yes, we shall." She said. Cat Noir smiled at her and carried her out of the house before launching them up onto a rooftop with his staff and taking off towards the nearest hospital.

* * *

**A/N: And there's chapter 5! I hope the way Revealer and Electra were dealt with was satisfying enough. Also, you got to see into Alya's mind and I hope that was as fulfilling as I want it to be. We're going to be looking into Nino and Marinette's parent's next so there's something to look forward to. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	6. Late Night Visits PART 1

**Late Night Visits PART 1**

Dr. Genevieve Berger saw a lot of crazy cases come in when she was working. Especially when she was working nights. Tonight however, was probably the craziest yet for her because one minute was checking on a patient and the next she was being paged to a private patient room to treat none other than Ladybug herself, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

"H-hi." She said as she came in, in awe of the girl before her. She glanced at the chief of surgery, and she only nodded and gave her a small smile.

"Dr. Berger." She said. "Miss. Dupain-Cheng needs someone to look at her knee and I told her that I'd bring in our best orthopedic surgeon. That's where you come in."

"Meh-me?" She asked, she knew she was good, but she didn't know the Chief considered her the best in the hospital.

"Yes, you." The Chief said. "Now, do a proper workup and if she ends up needing surgery let me know and I'll get the OR booked for you."

"O-o-okay." She said. "Sure thing."

"Good." The Chief said and began leaving the room. "Oh, and not a word to _anyone_ about them being here. We don't want _you know who_ knowing where to find her."

Genevieve nodded. "Yes, Chief." She said, and the Chief left the room.

"Okay, well, um, hi." Genevieve said, walking up to the bed. "I'm Dr. Genevieve Berger, as I'm sure you just heard. Uh, I'm gonna take a look at your knee okay?"

Marinette said nothing and just nodded. Genevieve smiled at the girl and crossed to the other side of the bed so she could properly attend to her patient.

"Thank you for doing this." Cat Noir said from where he sat in a chair beside the bed, holding onto Marinette's hand. Genevieve nodded and smiled at him.

"This is the least I can do after everything you and her have done for Paris." She told him. "I'm happy I can help."

Cat Noir smiled at her and then looked at Marinette while Dr. Berger continued her assessment. She moved Marinette's knee slowly left and right, and she hissed in pain at the slightest movement.

"Marinette, can you try bending your knee for me?" She asked her, and Marinette nodded, beginning to move her leg, but the sudden movement sent pain shooting up through her knee and she paused. "Go slow."

Marinette nodded and then slowly tried bending her knee, with a little help from Dr. Berger. She couldn't bend it very far without being in severe amounts of pain, so Genevieve helped her straighten it back out on the bed.

"Okay, now I'm gonna have you try to walk a little bit, do you think you can do that for me?" She asked. Marinette looked hesitant, but nodded in the end. Dr. Berger helped her get her legs over the side of the bed, but when she went to stand she paused.

"Chat?" She said timidly, speaking for the first time. Cat Noir stood from his chair and walked over to the other side of the bed. Dr. Berger stepped aside and watched at Cat Noir grabbed her hands and helped her stand.

"She can't really put any weight on it. She'll fall over." He explained quickly, and Genevieve made a mental note of it while nodding.

"Okay, how about you help her take just one or two steps and then we'll move on, sound okay?" She asked, they both nodded and she smiled at them.

"Alright, come on, Princess." He said. "Just a couple steps and then you can stop, okay?"

Marinette nodded as she clung to him for support so she didn't topple over and hurt herself more. Dr. Berger watched closely as Marinette took two slow steps, crying out in pain whenever she put weight on her bed leg. Cat Noir picked her up after the two steps and placed her back in the bed before sitting back down in the chair next to the bed.

"Okay Marinette." She said. "I'm gonna take you up for an X-Ray and an MRI on your knee so we can see what's going on, sound good?"

Marinette nodded slowly, smiling timidly at her. Genevieve smiled back.

"Alright, let's get going then."

* * *

Nearly an hour and a half later, Marinette was back in the private room with Cat Noir waiting for Dr. Berger to come back with the results of the scans. Cat Noir had been bouncing his leg impatiently when the door opened and she came it. She closed the door behind her and walked up to the side of the bed.

"Well Marinette, it looks like your knee is severely dislocated and you also have a severe tear in your meniscus, which _will_ need to be repaired with surgery." She said, getting straight to the point. "I've let the Chief know and she got an OR booked for eleven o'clock tonight which is in about forty-five minutes. So, I'll give you guys some time and then I'll come and start prepping you in a little bit okay?"

Marinette nodded before looking down at her hands and Dr. Berger smiled at her. She knew she was probably uncomfortable.

"Alright then, I'll see you in a little bit." She said, and then exited the room.

"It could have been worse, right?" Marinette asked, quietly after she left. "I could have broken it, but I didn't. It's just a dislocation and torn meniscus. I can deal with that."

"Are you trying to convince _me_ or _you_?" Cat Noir asked her, and she looked up at him before letting out a breath.

"I don't know." She said. "Both?"

"Hey," Cat Noir said, rising from the chair and sitting on the bed, taking her hands in his own. "It's okay, Marinette. I'm going to be there the entire time, okay? I promise."

She nodded, and tears pooled up in her eyes. "I'm sorry." She said.

"What are you sorry for?" He asked, Marinette wiped her eyes but it was no use because more tears just flowed right out.

"I'm sorry for crying..." She said, not really knowing what to say. "It's just...it's not that I don't appreciate you being here and everything you've done for me since everything happened, Adrien, I do appreciate it believe me, but..."

"But what?" He asked. "Marinette you can tell me, you won't hurt my feelings in any way."

"It's just..." She started, and a sob escaped her. "I wish my parents could be here, but they can't because it's too dangerous and I just...I just want my mom, and I want my dad. I miss them so much."

"Oh, Marinette." Cat Noir said sadly, his heart breaking as he pulled her to him. She wrapped her arms around him tightly and broke down in his arms. "It's okay to miss your parents and to want them. You've been through some scary stuff these past few days, I would be feeling the exact same way you are now if I were you."

Marinette began to cry harder into his shoulder and her rubbed comforting circles on her back as he held her as she let out everything she had been holding in. He knew she needed this, and he wanted her to know that he was there for her no matter what. He wanted her to know that she would always have him and that he wasn't going anywhere.

So he held her until she stopped crying, and even then he held her. He wasn't going to let go until she did, no matter how long it would be until then. He didn't care.

He loved her, and he wasn't going to leave her.

* * *

Dr. Berger and a team of other trusted surgeons had let Cat Noir into the OR Gallery even though it was normally reserved for hospital staff only. They decided they could let it slide just once, and for that he was grateful. He watched as they worked on Marinette, and while normally he would have looked away and gagged at the sight in front of him, he found himself not being able to look away from it. He watched closely, as if he expected one of them to mess up and ruin everything. However, the surgery was a success and Marinette was back in the private room with a newly repaired meniscus.

What saddened him though, was having to leave her. He knew his father most likely thought he was in bed sleeping by now, but he didn't want to take the chance that somebody would come and check on him only to find that he wasn't in his room. So, with a heavy heart, he left a note on Marinette's beside and slipped out the window before heading back to his house.

* * *

Marinette's eyes fluttered open and she drew in a deep breath as she woke. For a second she forgot where she was, but when she looked down at her knee and saw a hinged knee brace everything came back to her. Revealer, Electra, Adrien being Cat Noir...she suddenly grew dizzy as her mind was flooded with memories. She looked around and realized she was alone in her private room, a frown came upon her face but then a piece of folded paper caught her eye. She reached over and grabbed it -being careful not to move her knee too much- then proceeded to unfold it and read it.

_Hey Princess, _

_I have to go back home to avoid suspicion, but I promise I'll come back and get you as soon as I can. _

_-Chat_

Marinette smiled at the note, but still felt a pang of anxiety at the thought of not having him there with her. Since she couldn't even walk, she was helpless against anyone who might discover she was here and come for her. She felt her heart quicken at the thought of Hawk Moth somehow finding out that she's in the hospital, but forced herself to calm down. She couldn't think like that, it would drive her insane.

The door to her private room opened, and Marinette's head whipped to face it, her defenses going up automatically. However, she relaxed when she saw Dr. Berger walk in with a smile on her face, followed by none other than Cat Noir. She couldn't help the big smile that spread across her face when she saw him and opened her arms in invitation. He rushed over quickly and enveloped her in his arms, she giggled as he rocked them side to side and nuzzled her face in his neck.

"I missed you." He said into her ear, and she blushed.

"I missed you, too." She told him.

"The surgery went very well, Marinette." Dr. Berger said, cutting in. "Everything went smoothly and according to plan."

Marinette smiled and nodded at the doctor, who smiled in return. They then started discussing her eventual discharge and post-op care. Dr. Berger wrote out a prescription for pain medication Marinette would need and talked to her about coming back for follow up appointments over the course of the next couple of months. Marinette visibly winced when Dr. Berger said she would have to be on bed rest and restricted use of her knee for nearly a month, the thought of not being able to do anything making her feel useless.

A little while later, Marinette was officially discharged and Cat Noir had her prescription in one of the pockets of his suit while Marinette carried the crutches she had to use if she wanted to get up. They bid goodbye Dr. Berger and then Cat Noir brought them to the roof of the hospital with his staff and carefully lifted Marinette up into his arms, being sure to keep her knee straightened out -even if the brace _did_ have her knee locked in a straight position, he wasn't taking any chances- and Marinette clung tightly to the crutches.

"Alright, I'll try not to jostle you too much, Princess." He said, and she nodded. Then, he took off and began bringing them back to the house. The sun was still rising in the horizon, and Marinette couldn't take her eyes off of it. She loved sunrises, and closed her eyes to relish in the feeling of the warmth on her face. She didn't know it, but Cat Noir was glancing at her every so often and smiling, only to look away a moment later to refocus on getting back to the house.

Once the had officially made it back, Cat Noir carried her up the stairs and into the room she had deemed hers. He set her down gently and she went to thank him, but then she got a queasy feeling in her stomach. Cat Noir's reflexes came in handy and he quickly grabbed a trash bin and held it up for her, and Marinette spilled her guts into the bin. Cat Noir made sure her hair stayed out of her face, and Marinette groaned when she pulled her face away from the trash bin.

"Looks like the side affects of the anesthetic Dr. Berger was talking about are finally kicking in." She said, taking the tissue Cat Noir had offered her to wipe her mouth.

"Looks like it." He said, and stood. He took the pain medication out of his pocket and set it on the bedside table then disappeared downstairs for a minute before coming back with a glass of ice water.

"Okay, as much as I hate this, I have to leave." He said, sitting down beside her good knee on the bed. "School starts in an hour and Nathalie's probably going to come and wake me up any minute now."

"It's okay." She told him. "I'll survive. Besides, I won't be alone. I've got Tikki."

"Yep." Tikki said, coming out from where she had been in Marinette's jacket. "Don't worry, I'll make sure she doesn't do anything stupid or over exert herself in any way."

Cat Noir smiled at the Kwami, "Thank you, Tikki." He said, and then he turned to Marinette. "If anything happens, call me. Got it?"

"Aye aye, Captain." She said, a small smile on her face, and he chuckled at her before leaning forward and placing a quick kiss on her forehead.

"I'll be back as soon as possible." He said, and then walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him. Leaving behind a shocked Marinette, who couldn't seem to get her now racing heartbeat to slow down.

* * *

Adrien walked up to Nino and Alya outside the entrance of the school, Alya was laying her head on Nino's shoulder looking visibly upset. Nino was rubbing her shoulder soothingly, but it seemed to do nothing to make her feel better. She still appreciated it though.

"Adrien." Alya said when he walked up to them, standing up straight. "Did you see? Did you see what happened to Mari?"

Adrien fought back a flinch and nodded sadly. "I saw it alright." He told her. "I'm sure all of Paris saw."

Alya nodded, pursing her lips as tears pricked her eyes. "I just...I wish I knew what happened. I just want to know if she's okay. That's all, and I tried to talk to her last night, Cat Noir didn't stop. He just kept running."

A pang of guilt coursed through Adrien's body, he knew how upset Alya was about this whole thing and how much she wanted to see her best friend, but if Marinette wasn't ready to face her, he would respect her choice and not push it. As much as it pained him to see Alya such a mess, and he wished he could just tell her everything. That he was Cat Noir and that he was taking care of Marinette and that she was okay...but he couldn't. He knew he couldn't, and that only broke his heart more.

"I'm sure she's fine." Adrien told the brunette. "Cat Noir would never let anything bad happen to her."

"I know that." Alya sniffled, hugging her arms to herself. "I do, I just...I just need to see it for myself, but I know that's not possible."

Adrien reached out and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, squeezing it slightly. One thing on his mind. _What if it could be?_

The bell rang, signaling they had five minutes to get to their first class. The trio walked into the school and Nino let out a heavy sigh.

"This just feels so weird." He said. "Walking in without her."

Adrien and Alya nodded, it was weird not having their bubbly friend walk into school with them, but it was something they were sadly going to have to get used to.

* * *

There wasn't much that really shocked Nino Lahiffe, but finding out his best friend since kindergarten was Ladybug? Yeah. Total shocker. Sure, he knew that Marinette wasn't always clumsy or shy or reserved, especially when she was super close with someone, but he didn't expect her to be a total crime fighting badass. Although he was shocked and scared when he saw his friend on that tv screen being tortured, he couldn't help but be proud of her. She was a superhero who had saved _so many people_ in the last four years since Cat Noir and Ladybug had first appeared in Paris. Nino had been proud to call her his friend before, but finding out that she saved lives and kicked ass on a daily only made him prouder. He felt like a proud older brother, even if they were technically the same age.

However, the moment of pride went away as soon as it appeared when he realized he had just watched his childhood best friend get electrocuted and outed on live tv. Then, he was filled with anger. So much anger in fact, he was surprised Hawk Moth didn't try to akumatize him again. Then again, he was probably busy with the other two akuma villains that had been causing chaos and torturing Marinette.

In that moment, Nino wanted nothing more than to beat the shit out of the two akumas who had taken his friend and tortured her and forced her to reveal herself all because it was _fun_ for them. He knew he couldn't hold it against them because they were being controlled and weren't in their right minds, but that didn't stop him from thinking about all the ways he could torture them the way they had tortured her.

Then, Cat Noir had dropped in and saved her and Nino couldn't be happier knowing that she was finally away from the two villains who had caused her so much pain and with her partner. He knew Cat Noir would take good care of her, it was just a feeling he had. Everyone in Paris knew how Cat Noir felt about Ladybug and he would never let anything bad happen to her if he could help it.

However, when it was the final showdown between the two heroes and the two villains, and he watched as Mari got hurt, the anger came back. How dare they! How dare they hurt her again after all they had done already. It seemed as though they just didn't know when to stop, but then again most akuma villains never did. He watched as she still fought even though she was injured, and found himself wondering if there was anything that his best friend _couldn't _do, and chuckled lightly to himself when he realized there was _one _thing which was tell Adrien how she felt about him.

Although Nino was upset at the circumstances, he was glad to know that it was his caring, compassionate childhood best friend who was Paris' super heroine. The more he thought about it, the more he realized there was nobody more perfect to be Ladybug than Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and while some people didn't think she was fit to be a hero because of her age, the pride in Nino's heart swelled and his love for his friend grew. The girl he had taken in as a sister way back in primary school was a hero.

And she was a damn amazing one.

* * *

Marinette sighed and laid her head against the headboard of the bed as she flipped aimlessly through channels, finding nothing the least bit interesting or entertaining. She huffed in annoyance and slammed the remote down onto the bed. She was completely bored out of her mind, and it wasn't like she could go out for a walk. One, she couldn't walk and two, she had to remain in hiding. Nobody could see her out in public, at least not in her civilian form.

That thought set a figurative lightbulb off above her head and she called for her Kwami, who woke up from her nap and came fluttering over to her chosen.

"What is it, Marinette?" Tikki asked.

"If I transform, the knee brace will stay on right?" She asked, and Tikki quickly caught on.

"Marinette, no, you can't transform." She advised. "Not like this."

"Will it stay on or not, Tikki?" Marinette asked, ignoring her Kwami's earlier statement. Tikki sighed and shook her head.

"No, you'd have to take it off, transform and then put it back on." She said, and Marinette smiled.

"Okay, I can do that." Marinette said, moving to start removing the brace from her knee. Tikki quickly tried to stop her.

"Marinette, no!" She said. "You can't transform. It wouldn't be either smart or safe. You still won't be able to walk."

"Tikki, I can't just sit around and do nothing." Marinette argued with her Kwami. "Besides, if I transform, you can enable my healing abilities and it will help my knee heal faster."

Tikki scowled, she didn't like this. Not one bit.

"Plus, what's going to happen if Hawk Moth akumatizes someone and I can't be there to help and purify?" Marinette suggested. "Please, Tikki."

Tikki knew she should say no, but seeing just how desperate Marinette was to get out even if just for a few minutes, she sighed and caved in.

"Fine." She said. "But for no longer than thirty minutes, and if you so much as _think_ about trying to put any weight on your bad leg I will _force myself out of the earrings_, understood?"

Marinette nodded, a giddy smile on her face and she carefully removed her knee brace. She stayed seated in the bed and called on her transformation, Tikki flew into her earrings and in a flash of bright light, Ladybug replaced Marinette. Ladybug put the knee brace back on over her knee and then used her crutches to get down the stairs. She crutched into the kitchen where the back door was located and tilted her crutches against the counter before hopping on one foot to the back door and going outside. Marinette closed her eyes as she drew in a deep breath of the fresh air, and then unclasped her yoyo from it place on her hip and grappled it around a chimney a few buildings over. She swung up into the air, and couldn't help the laugh of pure joy that escaped her. She landed on her good leg on the roof -making sure her other foot didn't so much as touch the roof below her- and looked out at the city below her. She slid her yoyo open to check the time and realized that school was almost out, which meant it wouldn't be long before Adrien came back to her. She didn't have much time, but it didn't matter. She would be back in bed in no time and he would never know she had gone out.

Ladybug closed her yoyo and grappled onto something else, swinging off, not seeing the people who had been sitting outside a café taking pictures of her as she zipped off.

* * *

The final bell rang and everyone rushed out of the classroom to start heading home and Adrien was about to leave when he heard Alya gasp.

"Guys, someone just posted these pictures on the Ladyblog." She said. "It's Marinette."

Panic ebbed through Adrien's body as he and Nino rushed over to look over her shoulder at her phone screen.

There in the pictures, clear as day, was Ladybug swinging throughout the city.

"Look, she's got a knee brace on." Alya said, zooming in on the brace on Ladybug's injured leg. "She must have gone to see a doctor because you can't buy knee braces like those at any kind of store."

"Yeah, she must have." Adrien mumbled. That girl was in _so much trouble_ when he saw her later.

"She looks okay for the most part." Alya said, swiping through the pictures. "Look, she's even smiling in this one."

As angry as Adrien was at Marinette for transforming and going out, he couldn't help but smile at the picture. She really was beautiful.

"Well, I guess pictures of Ladybug sightings are going to have to satisfy me for a while until Marinette can come home." Alya said sadly, looking at the pictures. "But you know, I'll be okay. Marinette and Cat Noir will defeat Hawk Moth in no time so Marinette can finally come home. Everything will be fine."

With that, Alya grabbed her backpack and left the room, still staring at the pictures on her phone. Nino and Adrien shared a glance before shrugging and leaving the classroom, both going their separate ways as Nino began walking home and Adrien got in the car to go home knowing he wasn't going to be home for long before going out to see a certain Princess.

* * *

**A/N: I was going to add more, but I'm going to put it in the next chapter so yes, another 2 parter chapter, sorry. Anyway, I'm finally updating this story! It's been way too long since I posted chapter 5, also yes this chapter is kind of just a filler chapter so the story can get a move on...sorry bout that. Anyway, chapter 7 will be more interesting. Promise. **


	7. Late Night Visits PART 2

**Late Night Visits PART 2**

"What are you doing?" Adrien asked as he entered the kitchen only to find Marinette seated by the stove with her leg propped up on another chair, there was a pot on the stove with water in it and Adrien assumed she was waiting for it to boil.

"Uh, cooking." Marinette said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"You're not supposed to be out of bed, you're on bed rest remember?" He reminded her, and she sighed, rolling her eyes at him.

"Ugh, it's _so boring_ being in bed all day." She whined. "Do you have any idea how many channels I flipped through trying to find something interesting to watch? My thumb started cramping."

"Oh really?" Adrien asked, walking over to lean against the counter in front of her and crossed his arms. "Were you planning on using that excuse as the reason why you transformed and went on a little joyride today?"

Marinette's eyes widened, she had been caught. How did he find out? "Tikki said she wouldn't tell." She pouted.

"She didn't have to." He said. "People saw you."

"What?" She asked. "But I was careful!" Adrien scoffed.

"Clearly not careful enough since they got pictures of you swinging around." He said. "Marinette, what were you thinking? You just had surgery yesterday, you aren't ready to be zipping all around Paris yet."

"I was thinking that I need to be ready for when Hawk Moth strikes next, because he will. We both know it." She explained. "I had Tikki enable my healing abilities while I was transformed to help my knee heal faster. I can't be a sitting duck for two months or longer while I wait for my stupid knee to heal, Adrien. Paris needs me!"

"If Hawk Moth had akumatized somebody today while you were out on your little escapade, what would you have done?" He asked her sternly. "You can't walk Marinette, much less fight. If an akuma had attacked today, who's to say that you wouldn't have injured yourself more? Or worse?"

"Okay, I get it. I was reckless and stupid, and I'm sorry but-"

"We don't have time for reckless and stupid, Marinette." Adrien snapped. "Hawk Moth knows who you are, and if you ever go out again and stay so close to this house, it's only a matter of time before he figures out where you're hiding and comes for not only you, but your Miraculous. Please, tell me you see that?"

"Of course I see that! I'm not that stupid Adrien, I knew the risks, but-"

"But what?" He asked. "But what, Marinette? What made you decide that you were willing to take the risks of being found?"

"Things didn't used to be like this!" She snapped. "I used to be able to go out as Ladybug whenever I wanted and I didn't have to worry about Hawk Moth coming for me because nobody knew who I was! I could be whoever the hell I wanted! I had so much freedom and I had an escape from everyday life if I ever needed one and I just...I wanted, no, I _needed_ to feel like I had that freedom again. Even if it was just for a little while."

Marinette looked away from Adrien and down to her hands -which she fiddled with in her lap- and Adrien sighed sadly before kneeling down beside her.

"Marinette." He said tenderly and she lifted her head once more to meet his eyes. "I know how it feels to be locked up or need to get away, I get it. I do, but you can't...you can't risk it. This isn't a game anymore, and as much as I hate to tell you, you don't have the same freedom that you used to, and I know that sucks. Trust me, I do."

Adrien reached out and put his hand over hers -which she was still fiddling with- and squeezed them. He gave her a small smile before speaking again.

"As much as I wish certain things were different, your life will never be the same again after this. You can't take risks like the one you took today again." He told her. "Please, just promise me that if you transform, it's because you need to and not because you want to. It's like you said, Paris needs you, and it needs you alive. Not in a bodybag."

A tear slid from Marinette's eye at hearing his words. She knew he was right, and she hated that he was right. She nodded and sniffled, wiping the tear away quickly before giving him a watery smile.

"Okay." She said. "I promise."

Adrien smiled at her and then reached up to brush her bangs out of her face, and -unbeknownst to him- causing her heart to thump against her ribcage. "Thank you." He said, and then stood up.

"The waters boiling." He told her, and she seemed to break out of some sort of daze and her eyes snapped to the pot of water she had forgotten all about.

"Oh, uh, could you pass me that pasta please?" She asked him. He looked behind him on the counter and found a box of pasta, he handed it to her with a confused look on his face.

"Did you go grocery shopping while you were out?" He asked, and she shook her head.

"No, I found everything I needed in the pantry. Surprisingly none of it was expired yet." She said, pouring the box of pasta into the boiling water and beginning to stir it around.

"Huh." Adrien huffed. "That's strange. My father and I haven't been here in at least a year and a half."

Marinette only shrugged and continued what she was doing, and Adrien simply watched her. Handing her certain ingredients when she needed them or helping her with other things like grating cheese while she made sure her sauce didn't burn. Eventually, they had finished cooking and were sat at the dining room table eating spaghetti.

"Wow, this is really good Marinette." Adrien said after he took a bite of it. "You're a really amazing cook."

Marinette couldn't help the blush that crept onto her face and she smiled. "Thanks." She said. "It's my dads secret recipe."

"It must not be much of a secret if you know it." He said teasingly with a smile, and Marinette let out an airy laugh.

"Yeah, I guess so." She said, and took another bite of her food. The evening went on like that as they joked around with each other and talked and got to know each other better, both of them had nearly forgotten that Marinette was currently in hiding from an evil super villain ultimately planning their demise.

But only nearly forgotten.

After they had finished eating, Adrien insisted that he would wash the dishes while Marinette rested and kept her knee propped up, and while she insisted she was fine and could help, Adrien assured her that he could handle washing two dirty plates on his own. When she asked about washing the pots and pans she had used to actually make the food, he simply said they could wash them later. Eventually, Marinette stopped trying to argue with him when she saw he wasn't going to budge and stayed seated at the kitchen island and watched him.

"So..I've been meaning to ask you about something." He said nonchalantly while rinsing the two plates, Marinette sat up straiter on the stool she was seated in and rested her arms on the island.

"Ask me about what?" She asked him, and she noticed that he looked tense. "Adrien, is something wrong?"

"No, no, I was just..." He trailed off, sighing heavily before putting the plates down in the sink and turning to face her, leaning against the counter. "Alya misses you."

It was Marinette's turn to sigh, although sadly this time, and her gaze went from him to the smooth marble of the kitchen island as she ran her fingers over it.

"I know she does." She said quietly. "God, I wish I could see her. Explain..._everything_."

"That's what I wanted to ask you about." He said, walking up to the island. "What if I brought Alya here?"

"What?" Marinette asked curtly, her head snapping back up to meet his eyes.

"I would make sure she was like...I don't know, blindfolded or something and then I would bring her here so you two could see each other." He said.

"Weren't you the one just lecturing me about taking risks?" Marinette said. "Adrien, that's crazy! You can't bring Alya here, it's too dangerous."

"Marinette, she's _miserable_ worrying about you. It's driving her crazy." He told her.

"You don't think I know that?" Marinette asked. "I've seen her posts on the Ladyblog, Adrien. Her begging me to come home because she misses me or she's worried, or my _parents_ are worried. It's driving _me _crazy not being able to see her, or go to school, or be normal again. Believe me, I know how Alya feels Adrien, I just feel like ten times worse."

"That's what I'm saying, this could be a good thing for both of you-"

"No." She stopped him. "It's like you said, this isn't a game anymore. Lives are on the line now, and I won't risk Alya's just because I miss her."

Adrien sighed and dropped his head for a moment before raising it back up and running a hand through his hair. "You're right, I _know _you're right, I just thought if I brought her here it would-"

"Make me feel normal again." She finished for him, and he nodded after a moment. "Adrien, I'm not normal. I haven't been since the say my Miraculous showed up on my desk. Normal isn't a luxury that you and I get to have, and I was foolish to believe that we could."

Adrien said nothing as he walked around the kitchen island and stopped just in front of Marinette before leaning down and wrapping his arms around her. She was taken aback at first, but slowly hugged him back.

"Marinette, you have got to be one of the if not the bravest people I know." He told her. "I'm sorry this is all happening."

Marinette sighed and nuzzled her face in his neck as she held him closer. "You and me both, chaton." She said.

They held each other for a little longer before pulling away, and Adrien checked the time on his phone.

"Well, it's barely eight o'clock, how about we watch a movie?" He suggested, and Marinette giggled a little.

"Do you even have any movies here?" She asked, a smile coming to her face.

"Not sure." He replied honestly. "But if we don't, I can always go to my house real quick and grab one."

Marinette pretended to think it over before her eyes got a twinkle in them that took his breath away.

"Okay," She said. "Looks like we're having a movie night."

* * *

Adrien had found some movies in one of the cabinets under the tv stand in the living room, and soon after that they were upstairs in Marinette's room so she could prop her leg up while Adrien put the movie into the DVD player before sitting next to her on the bed as the opening credits rolled. Neither one of them had heard of the movie before, but from looking at the cover and reading the title, _L'amour conquiert tout, _it was a romance movie.

"Oh what the hell is she dumb?!" Marinette exclaimed half way through the movie. "He cheated on her with her _best friend_ and she's just going to forgive them both and take him back? Just like that?!"

"Looks like the other guy is thinking the same thing." Adrien said as the other love interest came onto the screen.

"He better knock some sense into her thick skull before I reach through the screen and do it myself." She huffed, and Adrien chuckled at how invested she was getting into the plot.

"Marinette, this movie was filmed years ago. You couldn't reach through the screen and 'knock some sense into her thick skull' even if you wanted to." He told her, still chuckling.

"Oh, you know what I mean you stupid cat." She sassed, shoving his shoulder.

"But I'm your stupid cat." He teased and she snorted.

"Oh, lucky me." She said sarcastically, and a giggle escaped her.

"Hey, have you taken your medication today?" He asked casually, and Marinette froze, which he took as a no. "Marinette, your knee must be killing you right now!"

"It's fine. I swear." She told him, fighting a wince of pain and trying to get him to stop worrying.

"No, it's not _fine_, they prescribed them to you for a reason." He scolded her, pausing the movie to get up and walk to her side of the bed and snatch the bottle of pain medication from the bedside table along with the now empty glass. He opened the bottle and held two of the pills out to her. She sighed and took them from his hand while he disappeared into the bathroom located in the bedroom and came back with the empty glass now full of water from the sink. He practically shoved the glass in her face and she took it with a roll of her eyes, placing the pills in her mouth and swallowing them, washing them down with the water. She handed the glass back to him and he set it on back on the bedside table.

"Happy?" She asked, and he nodded. Going back over to his side, sitting back down and resuming the movie.

"Yes." He said. "Thank you."

"I'll be sure to remember to take them, I promise." She told him.

"Oh, I know you will." He said. "I'll enlist Tikki as your painful reminder."

"Hey, you two leave us out of this!" They heard Plagg call from somewhere in the room, they both looked around the room in confusion.

"Where are you guys?" Adrien called out, and he heard Plagg scoff.

"None of your business." He sassed. "Now go back to your stupid movie."

Marinette scoffed and let out a laugh, shaking her head and turning back to the tv to watch the movie. Adrien just shook his head at his Kwami's sassiness and chuckled before returning his gaze to the movie.

A little further into the movie, when the main protagonist had finally gained some sense and broke up with the guy who cheated on her, Adrien felt Marinette lean her head on his shoulder and let out a yawn.

"It seems my medication makes me just a _bit_ sleepy." She mumbled as her eyes slid closed.

"It's alright." He said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him to make her more comfortable. "If my Princess wants to use me as a pillow, she can."

"Don't you have to get home soon, though?" She asked.

"I'll just tell Nathalie I crashed at Nino's house." He told her. "Nino will back me up."

"Are you sure?" She asked, and he nodded.

"I'm sure." He assured her.

"Good." She said, snuggling closer to him. "Because you are really warm and your shirt is really soft and I did _not_ want you to have to move." Adrien chuckled.

"Sweet dreams, Princess." He said, and only got a hum in return as Marinette slowly but surely fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

Marinette woke with a gasp and sat up on the bed. She looked to the window and saw that it was still dark outside, and her eyes flitted down to the boy asleep next to her. She looked at the alarm clock that rested on the bedside table and it said that it was four in the morning. A chill ran down Marinette's spine. Something had woken her up, she knew that much. What that thing was was another question.

She grabbed her crutches from where they laid on the ground and hoisted herself up off the bed. She crutched to the other side of the room over to the window and looked outside, she was sure she had heard something out there. Her eyes scanned the rooftops and the streets, looking for the culprit as her guard went up. Something wasn't right, she could feel it in her gut. Then, she heard something again. It sounded like a laugh, and not a happy one. She set her eyes on the rooftops once more only to see a silhouette standing above the city laughing menacingly. It was then that Marinette heard the screams from the people in the streets below. Honestly, who was up and out at four in the morning?

"Adrien!" Marinette called the boy who was still sleeping, not taking her eyes away from the chaos ensuing before her. "Adrien, wake up!"

She turned on her crutches only to find him non responsive and still sleeping, letting out a frustrated grunt she grabbed the closest thing to her -which just so happened to be a book- and chucked it at him. It landed hard on his chest and he startled awake.

"What's going on?" He asked when he saw Marinette standing by the window. Marinette quickly crutched over to the bed, sat down and began taking her knee brace off.

"There's an akuma." She explained quickly, undoing the last strap of the brace and removing it from her leg. "We need to go."

"What the hell is Hawk Moth doing akumatizing people at," Adrien checked the time on his phone. "four in the morning? Doesn't he ever sleep?"

"Guess not." She said. "Come on. Let's get going."

"Yeah, okay." He said. "Plagg?"

"Right here kid." Plagg said as he and Tikki came out of wherever they had been. "You know what to do."

Adrien nodded. "Plagg, claws out!"

Marinette shielded her eyes as a bright green light transformed Adrien into his superhero persona of Cat Noir and then called on her own transformation.,

"Tikki, spots on!" She called out and the magic of her transformation enveloped her as she became Ladybug. Cat Noir helped her put her brace back on, and then the two heroes leapt from the bedroom window and made their way towards the impending akuma.

The akuma was strong, and called himself Midnight Fury. Ladybug and Cat Noir didn't know what his objective was as of yet, but he could control shadows which made it difficult for them to fight since he had an advantage.

"Ah, Ladybug and Cat Noir!" He said as they landed on the rooftop across from him. "I was wondering when you'd show up. Tell me Ladybug, how's your knee doing?"

Shadows shot out from his hands and made their way towards her, intending on tripping her up and worsening her injury, but Ladybug saw it coming and used her yoyo to deflect the attack with ease. The shadows disappeared as the villain went after the civilians in the streets, capturing them in shadow chains and preventing them from escaping.

"Nobody will escape me this time!" He shouted, and this time aimed for Cat Noir, who leapt out of the way of the chains that came his way.

"Cat Noir, we have to find out where his akuma is." Ladybug called to her partner as she swung out of the way of an attack and grabbed a civilian before the chains could catch them. Seriously, why were these people awake and out in the streets at four in the freaking morning?

"On it, m'lady!" Cat Noir called back and tried to see anything on Midnight Fury that could be where his akuma was all while dodging attacks at the same time. There was a necklace with a purple charm around his neck that shone in the moonlight, and Cat Noir figured the akuma had to be there.

"He's wearing a necklace, m'lady!" He shouted as Ladybug got more civilians out of the way and deflected more attacks with her yoyo.

"Good eye, Cat Noir!" She exclaimed and swung back up to the rooftops. She threw her yoyo up in the air and called for her Lucky Charm. The item fell into her hands, and while she was confused at first on how to use it, she figured it out after she looked around and everything clicked. Using the Lucky Charm, she was able to distract the akuma and attack him from behind, restricting his arms. He struggled against her, but she was able to rip the necklace from his neck.

"Cat Noir, do your thing!" She shouted and she threw the necklace his way.

"Cataclysm!" He shouted, and he caught the necklace in his hand. It disintegrated into black dust and the purple butterfly flew out.

"No more evil doing for you little akuma." Ladybug said as she opened her yoyo. "Time to de-evilize! Gotcha!"

She waited a moment for the magic to purify the akuma before reopening it and releasing it. "Bye bye little butterfly."

Ladybug grabbed the Lucky Charm from where it lay on the ground and tossed it into the air, shouting "Miraculous Ladybug!"

Swarms of Ladybugs flew around the city, releasing the citizens from their shadowy confinement, and the two heroes brought their fists together.

"Pound it!" They cheered triumphantly, and then their Miraculous began to beep.

"Let's get out of here, shall we m'lady?" Cat Noir said, and Ladybug nodded. Then the duo took off back to the house, neither of them taking the time to think about just how close the attack had been to their hideout home and neither of them knowing that Hawk Moth was closing in and close to finding out the truth.

* * *

Over the next week, Adrien patrolled alone at night because he wouldn't let Marinette get out of bed -and he enlisted Tikki as his eyes and ears while he was away to report back to him when he came back to check on her, but Marinette didn't know that- he wanted her to get as much rest as possible. Even though she hated it, and made it _very_ clear to him that she hated it.

"Ugh, whoever invented bed rest is an idiot. A complete idiot. This is so boring all I get to do is sit around all day!" She would complain and whine, but Adrien didn't mind. He knew he'd be going crazy too if it were him. The only thing that made Marinette feel like she wasn't totally useless was cooking, and while Adrien assured her he didn't mind buying them dinner and bringing it back with him, she insisted on cooking meals for them every night, so he stopped arguing. He would let her have this one thing if it meant keeping a smile on her face.

It was night time and Cat Noir was patrolling throughout the city when a thought crossed his mind as he passed the Dupain-Cheng bakery. He figured Marinette would probably enjoy designing while she was in bed so it gave her something more to do than watch boring tv shows. So, he leapt onto her balcony and dropped into her dark bedroom through the skylight, thankful for his night vision so he didn't have to feel around the room to find what he was looking for.

He walked over to her desk and was about to grab her sketchbook and few pencils when he realized something. The apartment was completely silent. He couldn't hear Sabine and Tom at all. Not their breathing, not their heart beats or footsteps. He didn't hear any of the things he normally heard when he was transformed, and he grew suspicious. So, he pulled out his civilian phone and called Marinette.

"Hey, what's up?" She answered.

"Hey, can you transform and meet me at your parents apartment?" He asked.

"Uh, why is something wrong?" She asked, growing concerned.

"They aren't here...but their car is." He told her after looking out the window.

"I'll be right there." She said, and the line went dead. He put his phone back in his pocket and waited for her to get there.

Ten minutes later, she dropped in through the sky light being sure to land on her good foot and climbed down the stairs.

"What were you even doing here in the first place?" She asked him.

"Well, I figured I'd get your sketchbook and bring it back to you so you could do some designing." He told her. "I figured it'd give you something else to do beside give your thumb cramps flipping through channels."

Ladybug smiled. "That was very thoughtful of you." She said. "Now, let's go see whats going on."

With a nod, they made their way down the stairs -well, Cat Noir carried her because she didn't bring her crutches with her and there was no way in hell he was going to let her try to hop down the stairs on one foot- and to the main level of the apartment. Ladybug hopped over to the kitchen, using the wall to stay standing and called out for her parents. She got no answer. Cat Noir called for them and still got no answer, and suddenly Ladybug called out for him from the kitchen.

"Chat!" She called, and he hurried over to see her looking down at a piece of paper.

"What? What is it?" He asked, she turned to face him and flipped the paper so he could see it.

There, drawn in the middle of the paper, was the butterfly logo of Hawk Moth.

"...He took them."

* * *

**A/N: DUN DUN DUN! Things are getting intense! **


	8. Voicemails

**Voicemails**

Marinette couldn't move. She stood frozen in the kitchen, her blue eyes wide as they stared at the paper in front of her.

"Marinette," She heard Cat Noir beside her and felt him put his arm on her shoulder. "Marinette, we'll get them back. I promise."

"He took my parents." She whispered, lifting her head to meet his eyes. "Adrien he took my...parents. He took them."

"I know, but we're going to get them back." He assured her. "We're going to get them back and we're going to stop Hawk Moth once and for all."

"But we don't even know where he is!" She exclaimed. "He had the upper hand here because he knew who I was under the mask! My parents were taken because of me! This is all my fault!"

"Hey, no it's not. Don't say that." He told her. "This is _not _your fault. It's all his. All Hawk Moths. Don't blame yourself for his crimes."

Her bottom lip quivered as tears pricked her eyes and she fell into Chat's arms. "He took my parents." She cried as he wrapped his arms around her. "He-he took my _parents_."

"I know. I know." He said softly as he pet her hair, not knowing what else to say.

"God, I'm so stupid!" She cried. "I should have sent them away after my identity was revealed. I should have made them go see our family in America, I should have...I should have _protected them_."

"Marinette, you did the best you could, considering the circumstances." He assured her. "This wasn't your fault."

"But I was so caught up in the fact that I had been outed I didn't even stop to think about Hawk Moth possibly kidnapping my parents." She said, feeling her throat grow tighter with every word. Her heart ached and pounded in her chest and suddenly she found it hard to breathe. She pulled away from Cat Noir and leaned against the counter, her breath coming out in short gasps as her chest heaved.

"Marinette," She heard Cat Noir call her name. "Marinette, hey! You need to breathe!"

Chat put his hands on either of her shoulders and turned her to face him, she shook her head. Looking anywhere but his eyes.

"I ca-...I can't." She panted, and block spots appeared in her vision.

"Marinette, we're going to find your parents." He told her. "But we won't be able to start looking until you calm down, so, you need to _breathe_."

The black spots continued to cloud her eyesight and blind her as Chat's voice began to echo around her. He sounded so far away, and the only thing that assure her that he wasn't was his hands still on her shoulders.

"Marinette, breathe!" He called out in desperation, but it all echoed around her. Her brain not even processing his words. She began to feel lightheaded and stumbled a little, she was sure she would have fallen over if Cat Noir didn't have such a strong hold on her.

"Marinette, you need to breathe!" He called out. "_Please_, Marinette. Just breathe."

Marinette's head was pounding and her heart was racing, thumping against her ribcage. Her lungs longed for air, but she couldn't seem to get any. Her throat got tighter as the black spots in her eyes spread and got bigger. _Is this what dying feels like__? _She found herself wondering.

"Marinette, Marinette look at me." Chat said. "Look at me!"

She lifted her eyes to his face, and though she couldn't see him clearly, she could see the fear in his eyes. The panic. He cupped her face with one of his hands, and despite her dizzy haze, she leaned into his touch and he ran his thumb along her cheekbone.

"Please, Marinette." He whispered. "Please, breathe."

Marinette tried to do as he asked, but it proved to be rather difficult and her lungs felt like they were on fire. She let out a cry of pain when she tried to breathe again and shook her head. Telling him she couldn't do it.

"You can do it." He told her. "Come on, Marinette. You can do it, breathe. In through your nose out through your mouth."

Marinette tried again, breathing in through her nose, but was met with an overwhelming sensation she couldn't quite describe. Her world went black and she began to fall, the last thing she heard before falling completely unconscious was Cat Noir calling out her name in desperation.

Then nothing.

* * *

When Marinette's eye fluttered open, the first thing she noticed was that it was still dark outside. The second thing, was that she was back in her room at her and Adrien's little hideout house. The third thing, was the blond boy sitting in a chair next to the bed sound asleep. Marinette's brows furrowed in confusion, before the memories came flooding back to her all at once.

Hawk Moth had taken her parents. He had them, and who knew what he was doing to them?! The small gasp that escaped her somehow was enough to wake Adrien from his sleep. He shot up in the chair with a snort and lightly shook his head before rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He blinked for a moment before his gaze landed on a now fully awake Marinette.

"Hey, you're up." He said, rising from the chair and going to sit at her knees on the edge of the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Hawk Moth has my parents, how do you _think_ I'm feeling?" She snapped, and then let out a sigh. "I'm sorry...I just...I don't know where they are or _what_ he's probably doing to them and I-"

"Hey, Marinette, it's okay." He said, cupping her face with his hand. She leaned into his touch and placed her hand over his as she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to prevent the tears that pricked her eyes from falling. "We're going to get them back."

"How?" She asked, her voice small. "Even if Tikki has been helping me heal faster, I can't walk. I can't fight. I can't _do anything_. I... I can't save them."

"We'll figure something out." He assured her. "Like we always do. Trust me."

He brought his other hand up to the other side of her face, and she looked into his eyes. Her blue irises glistened with unshed tears and her lips quivered.

"We _will _get your parents back, and we _will_ defeat Hawk Moth and make him pay for everything he's done. I promise." He told her, his voice confident. "Everything is going to be okay, okay?"

She nodded, choking back a sob. They pressed their foreheads together and closed their eyes, both taking comfort in the others presence. Subconsciously deciding that they needed to be closer, they wrapped their arms around each other and clung tightly to one another. Marinette nuzzled her face into his shoulder as silent tears fell down her face. She breathed in his scent, and let it flood her senses. He always smelled nice, whether it was because of the cologne he wore or because it was his natural scent, she didn't know. Nor did she really care, but she welcomed the comfort it brought her. Adrien's fingers found themselves woven in her hair -which she had taken out of it's usual pig tails earlier- and relishing in the softness of it. He had dreamed of this, holding his lady like this, albeit he had dreamed it under better circumstances.

"I'm sorry this is all happening." He said softly, bringing one of his hands down to her back to rub soothing circles on it. He felt her shake her head against his shoulder.

"It's not your fault." She told him, her voice muffled by the material of his shirt.

"I feel like it is." He confessed. "If I had just...been a little faster. Warned you faster...stopped Revealer faster...none of this would be happening."

Marinette pulled away from the embrace and held his face in her hands, but he refused to meet her eyes.

"Hey, listen to me _none_ of this is _your_ fault." She told him. "It's _Hawk Moth's_ fault, and it always will be."

He reluctantly lifted his eyes to meet hers and felt his breath hitch in the back of his throat when he saw the look in her eyes. He felt his heart begin to pound against his ribcage.

"I don't blame you for anything that's happened." She told him. "And I never will, because it's not your fault. You got that?"

He sighed and nodded, the guilt in him lessened, but only a little. She smiled at him and ran her thumb over his cheekbone. "Good." She said, and brushed some of his hair from his face. They stared at each other intently for what felt like an eternity, only for the moment to be broken by a certain black Kwami.

"Ugh, what time is it?" He said, coming out of wherever he had been and letting out a loud yawn.

"Plagg! For the love of Ladybug, you're interrupting!" Tikki scolded him, coming out as well and hovering next to him. Marinette and Adrien flushed before pulling away from each other and looking to their Kwami's.

"I was asking a simple question, Tikki, _god_!" Plagg huffed, and Tikki rolled her eyes before the two Kwami's flew over to their chosens.

"Wait, Plagg's got a point. What time _is _it?" Marinette asked and looked to the alarm clock on the bedside table. "Adrien, it's four thirty in the morning! You have to go!"

"No, I don't. It's fine." He said, waving her off but she shook her head.

"You've stayed over too many nights, you're father is _going _to notice at some point and you can't use Nino as an excuse forever because eventually _he'll _grow suspicious and start asking you questions and we do _not _need that right now. You need to _go_." Marinette said, doing her best to get him up off the bed. "Besides, you still have school!"

Adrien sighed heavily, knowing she was right, and ran a hand through his hair. "You're right." He said dejectedly. "I _do_ need to go, and I guess I can't stay with you for a few nights for appearance purposes, but I will come and check on you after school before my fencing class, alright?"

Marinette gave him a smile and nodded. "Okay." She said. "Now get going."

Adrien nodded, and then surprised them both by leaning forward and placing a tender kiss on her forehead. Marinette's eyes widened for a moment before she flushed and her face turned pink. Adrien stood from the bed and smiled at her.

"Sleep tight, Princess." He said, and with that he called on his transformation and leapt out the bedroom window, slowing it tightly before taking off into the night. Marinette stared at the window where he had been standing just a moment ago, a look of bewilderment on her face. She brought her hand up to her forehead and grazed her fingers over the spot where his lips had kissed her, and smiled to herself as her heart thudded rapidly in her chest. She laid back down on the bed, and Tikki curled up on the pillow next to her. Marinette closed her eyes and fell asleep, the smile on her face never faltering as she slipped into the peaceful darkness that sleep offered her.

* * *

When Marinette woke next, it was light outside. It looked to be the afternoon, and glancing at the clock only confirmed her suspicion. It was two forty-five, school was almost over. Marinette wondered how she had slept for so long, but chalked it up to her body needing the sleep after how hectic things had been lately. She reluctantly took her pain medication and turned the tv on to the news channel.

_"In more recent news, Tom and Sabine Dupain-Cheng seem to be missing. Neither have been seen or heard from for almost three days. Citizens expressed their concern for the couples whereabouts when the bakery they own and run together closed one day and never re-opened." _The voice of the news anchor on the screen echoed in her head. _"Tom and Sabine have a daughter, Marinette, who was recently outed as Paris' beloved heroine, Ladybug. Whether the couple is now in hiding with their daughter or elsewhere, nobody knows. Citizens across Paris have expressed their sentiment, as well as their concern for the couples' well being."_

The scene cut to a civilian being interviewed in the streets. _"Tom and Sabine are such lovely people, always so kind to everyone. I sure hope that wherever they are, it's somewhere safe, and out of harms way."_

Tears pricked Marinette's eyes as she listened to more people say such kind things about her parents and the bakery and how they hoped they were okay, and she couldn't help the pain that ebbed at her heart. Her parents _weren't_ okay, but only she and Adrien knew that. These people knew nothing, and it broke her heart. Her eyes flitted to the top drawer of the dresser, where her cellphone resided. She hadn't touched it since the day Revealer and Electra had taken her and outed her secret identity, she was sure it was dead by now. The thought that she could tell everyone, let them know what Hawk Moth had done, shifted something in her. Dare she say it, it made her feel just a tad but hopeful.

She muted the tv and grabbed her crutches from their place on the floor beside the bed. She crutched her way over to the dresser and opened the top drawer. She stared at the device for a moment, contemplating if this was actually a good idea. Shaking the doubt from her head, she grabbed her phone and crutched back over to the bed and grabbed her purse. She dug through it until she pulled out what she needed, her phone charger. She leaned down and plugged the adapter into the outlet and then plugged the cord into her phone. The screen lit up white for a few minutes before turning on and telling her to draw her pattern lock. She drew the pattern and her phone unlocked. She was slapped in the face with nearly one hundred missed calls and texts from Alya, Nino and her parents. Marinette knew she shouldn't, but she opened her message and clicked on Alya's name. The most recent message squeezed her heart in a way she didn't even think was possible.

_I don't know if you even still have your phone or if you trashed it, but I need to ask anyway. Are your parents with you? I stopped by the bakery but it was closed and the apartment looked empty. If somehow you ever read this, please answer. I need to know that you're okay._

Marinette's breath hitched and she thought back to the news report. Three days. Her parents had been missing for three days and she was too invested in her own drama to notice. She hadn't been there to save them...she had failed. Holding back the sob that threatened to escape her throat, Marinette opened her voicemail inbox and clicked on the most recent message. It was from her mom. She held the phone up to her ear and clenched her eyes shut when she heard her mothers voice.

_"Marinette? Honey?" _The message began. _"It's mom again. Please, wherever you are, if you ever get this, let me know that you're okay. I know you can't really go out, I saw the knee brace in those pictures online...just...please. Somehow, someway, let me know that you're alright. That you're safe."_

Tears fell from Marinette's eyes and she felt a strong tug on her heart. She couldn't help the sob that escaped her as the message went on.

_"Marinette, your father and I want you to know that we love you and that...we're so proud of you." _Her mother said. _"And we are so lucky to have you as our daughter. We understand why you couldn't tell us, trust me we do, but we couldn't be any happier with the fact that it's you. Our daughter...one of Paris' superheroes. We couldn't be any prouder of you. Please know that."_

There was a crash in the background of the call, and Marinette tensed.

_"Who's there?!" _Her mother called out on the other line, and Marinette straightened up. _"Tom?!"_

Another crash was heard in the background, and then she heard her dads voice.

_"Sabine, run! Get out of here! Run!" _He shouted, and Marinette's mouth fell open.

_"Tom?! What's going on?!" _Her mother yelled back, there was silence for a few moments before her mothers voice came through the phone again. _"Who-who are you? Where's Tom?!"_

_"Allow me to introduce myself." _She heard a deep voice say. _"I...am Hawk Moth."_

Marinette felt her heart sink to the pit of her stomach and her entire body went cold as chills ran through her.

_"Wha-what are you doing?" _Her mothers panicked voice came through the phone. _"What are you doing with that? Ah!"_

The message cut off in the middle of her mothers scream and Marinette sat there, unable to move.

"...Mom?" She couldn't help but say. "Mommy?"

The phone fell from her shaky hands and landed face down in her lap. Her hand stayed where it was near her ear and her eyes remained wide and unblinking. She felt like her throat was closing up and she couldn't breathe. She had just heard what happened, and it terrified her to her very core.

Frozen in place with tears falling down her face and hyperventilating was how Adrien found her when he came to check on her. He quickly rushed over and knelt down in front of her.

"Marinette, hey, what happened?" He asked, but she didn't answer. She continued to stare off at nothing as her chest continued heaving. "Marinette. Marinette, hey, talk to me."

He held her face in his hands, and she seemed to snap out of whatever trance she was in and looked at him, seemingly just realizing he was there.

"What happened?" He asked again, and with a shaky hand she grabbed her phone and held it out to him.

"V-v-voicem-mail." She stammered. "L-listen to the v-voicemail."

His brows furrowed as he did was she said and pressed play on the message. Holding the phone up to his ear, but confusion grew when he heard the loving words of her mother come through the other line. However, when he heard the first crashes in the background and then Hawk Moth's voice, he brought the phone away from his ear with wide eyes. Then looked back to a shaking Marinette who seemed to be closing in on herself as she curled into a fetal position as much as she could without her knee hurting. He set the phone on the bedside table and took her hands in his.

"Hey, Marinette, it's okay. We talked about this remember?" He said. "We're going to get them back."

"He-he-he hurt them." She said. "He-he hurt them. He most likely hit them over the h-head with something...probably gave them c-c-concussions, he...he hurt them."

"I know. I know he did, but he won't get away with it, because you and I? We're going to stop him." He assured her. "Remember, I promised you we would?"

She nodded vigorously, and Adrien rose so he could sit on the bed and enveloped her in his arms, bringing her head down to his shoulder as she cried out.

"I didn't save them. I couldn't save them." She mumbled quietly into his shirt, balling it in her fists. "I should have saved them."

Adrien rocked them back and forth, rubbing his thumb up up and down on her arm and placing a gentle kiss to her hair. Suddenly, she sat up and locked eyes with him.

"Take me to the Eiffel Tower." She said.

"What?" He asked.

"Take me to the Eiffel Tower." She repeated.

"Why?" He asked her, his brows furrowing.

"There's something I need to do." Was all she said and grabbed her phone from off the charger. When she didn't explain further, Adrien figured that was all he was going to get out of her. So, he stood up and called on his transformation. Marinette called for Tikki to get in her purse and the little red Kwami fluttered over and gave her chosen a sad smile before flitting down into the purse. Adrien -now Cat Noir- scooped Marinette up in his arms and made his way towards the Eiffel Tower. When they got there, he brought them to the top where no civilian could get and set her down so she was sitting against the wall. Marinette opened the camera on her phone and held it out in front of her. She pressed record, and began to speak.

"People of Paris, I need your help..."

* * *

Alya was sitting at her desk in her bedroom staring down at her history homework, unable to focus. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair before slamming her pencil down.

"Alright, what's wrong?" Nino piped up from the floor, working on his physics homework.

"I don't know." She told him, turning her desk chair to face him. "I just have this...bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that's saying something bad is going to happen."

"Are you suddenly a psychic?" Nino teased, chuckling, and Alya rolled her eyes.

"Nino, this is serious!" She scolded her boyfriend. "What if it has something to do with Marinette?"

"Alya," Nino started, rising to kneel in front of her and taking her hands in his. "Marinette is in good hands, wherever she is. Cat Noir is taking good care of her."

"Yeah, we keep saying that but why hasn't she been seen in a week?" Alya questioned. "She was out, and she looked happy despite whatever happened to her knee and then _poof_, she vanishes and hasn't been seen since. What if something bad happened to her?"

"Alya, she has a knee injury. She's probably resting and trying to heal." He told her, trying to ease her mind. Alya sighed heavily before hanging her head and nodding.

"You're right." She said, sitting up straight. "You're right. She's probably just resting so she can heal faster and kick Hawk Moth's ass."

Nino chuckled and turned to go back to his homework when Alya got an alert on her computer.

"What is it?" He asked as she scrolled down her screen.

"Someone posted a video on the Ladyblog." She said, and clicked on the homepage. She gasped. "It's Marinette!"

Nino rose to his feet and rushed over behind her as she clicked play on the video.

_"People of Paris, I need your help." _She began, and Alya noticed her eyes were puffy. She had been crying. Marinette took a deep breath before speaking again. _"Hawk Moth has my parents, and who knows what he's doing to them."_

Alya and Nino gasped. Hawk Moth had kidnapped her parents?!

"Bastard." She heard Nino whisper behind her, and she could only nod in agreement.

_"Anyway, I know this is probably a long shot, but I'm desperate." _Marinette said, and a tear slipped from her eye. _"If anybody knows anything or sees anything that could give us a lead on Hawk Moth's whereabouts, please let us know. Cat Noir will be around whenever he isn't busy, so if you can find him talk to him, please. I can't stand the thought of Hawk Moth hurting my parents any more than he probably already has. I need to get them back."_

Marinette took a few moment to compose herself before she spoke into the camera again.

_"Alya," _She began, and the brunette perked up in her seat. _"You and I have been friends for a long time, and I want you to know that I miss you more than you know...go to our favorite hang out spot tonight at ten. Alone. Cat Noir has something to give you and will be waiting there for you...bug out."_

With that the video stopped, and Alya and Nino could do was stare at the screen in disbelief. Hawk Moth had Marinette's parents? What was he going to do to them? What did Cat Noir have to give Alya?

"This is insane." Alya finally said, and Nino nodded behind her.

"Beyond insane." He agreed. "Poor Marinette. I can't believe that monster took her parents!"

"Talk about a low blow." She said. "I hope she'll be okay enough to fight Hawk Moth and get them back."

"You and me both." Nino said. "What do you think Cat Noir has to give you?"

Alya shrugged. "I have no idea." She said. "I guess I'll find out tonight."

The couple abandoned their homework, knowing there was no way they were going to be able to focus on it now.

* * *

Across Paris, Tom and Sabine Dupain Cheng were tied to chairs and gagged. They were falling unconscious, but the sound of approaching footsteps snapped them out of their sleepy daze and they were suddenly wide awake. Hawk Moth walked up to them with an evil smile on his face, and the couple glared at the villain before them.

"Ah, you're awake." He said. "Now, we can get back to the problem at hand."

Tom's glare grew more intense as Hawk Moth leaned in closer to him and pulled the gag down from his mouth.

"Hopefully I've jogged your memory with my previous efforts, so tell me," He started. "_Where_ is that daughter of yours?"

"We don't know." Tom sneered. "And even if we did, what makes you think we would _ever_ tell you where to find her?"

Hawk Moth clicked his tongue. "Wrong answer, Mr. Dupain."

He pulled a small knife from his pocket and stepped away from the man, only to step towards Sabine instead. He ran the tip of the black along her jawline, and Sabine clenched her eyes shut as sweat beaded on her forehead.

"Hey, don't you dare touch her!" Tom exclaimed. "You make on cut on her and I swear to god I will kill you!"

Hawk Moth chuckled darkly. "This can all be over, Mr. Dupain." He told him. "All you need to do is tell me where to find your daughter."

"Like we've told you dozens of times. _We don't know where she is_. Cat Noir is hiding her, and he's never come by and told us where." He said.

"Liar!" Hawk Moth shouted, and raised the blade, intending on slashing Sabine's face with it, but Tom cried out.

"No, don't!" He exclaimed. "Cut me instead! Please! Don't hurt her!"

Hawk Moth paused his movements before smirking evilly and stepping slowly towards him again. He leaned down and brought the tip of the blade to his cheek.

"Perhaps _this_ will jog your memory." He said, and dug the blade into his skin before dragging it along his face.

Tom's screams of pain echoed throughout the room, along with them were Sabine's cries muffled by the gag as she helplessly watched her husband be tortured.

If Hawk Moth were being honest, he didn't need to do this. He knew they were telling the truth, and was truly just biding his time. He knew where Marinette was, just as he knew his own son was Cat Noir, but he couldn't just offer up the girls parents as bait without a single scratch on them. They would notice, and definitely grow suspicious.

The final battle was coming, and Hawk Moth knew with one hundred percent certainty that the two teens who dared to call themselves heroes, were going to lose.

* * *

**A/N: What do you guys think Cat Noir is going to give Alya? I can tell you one thing, it's _not _the fox miraculous or any miraculous at all, I'm not bringing the other heroes into this story. Also, I'm not gonna lie. This is a bit of a filler chapter, sorry. **


	9. Ready To Go To War

**A/N: Holy shit, this story is almost over. Only 3-4 more chapters and its done. That's so crazy to me. **

**Anyway, here's chapter nine!**

* * *

**Ready To Go To War**

Cat Noir stood in a field as he waited for Alya to show up, thinking back to his conversation with Marinette earlier that day when he brought her back to the house.

_"You do realize it's more than likely that nobody is going to know anything, right?" He asked, and she nodded. _

_"I know." She told him. "But at least I can say I'm doing everything I can to get them back."_

_"So, I'm going to see Alya tonight, huh?" He asked. _

_"Sorry, I thought of it last minute." She told him. _

_"So, where exactly is this 'hang out spot' you two have?" He asked her. _

_"One day we were hanging out in a park across town that presumably had just trees and woods behind it and Alya wanted to 'explore' as she put it." Marinette explained. "So, we walked through a lot of trees and we found this field full of flowers. It's kind of become out secret spot for whenever we want to just hang out alone together with nobody else around and gossip or eat ice cream."_

_"That sounds nice." He said, and she nodded. _

_"Yeah, it always was." She said. "Anyway, _you_ are going to be waiting for her there tonight with this." She held her hand out and revealed a simple, black phone that laid in her palm. _

_"A burner phone?" He asked as he took it from her hand, confused. She nodded. _

_"Alya will recognize it when she sees it." She told him. "She made me buy it a while ago so that if I was ever grounded and got my phone taken away for my absences at school again, she could still text and call me."_

_"Okay, but _why_ exactly am I giving this to her?" He asked. _

_"Because," She said softly. "I think it's time Alya and I talked."_

So now, here he was leaning agains a tree in the shadows, wanting to remain unseen just in case somebody who _wasn't _Alya walked through the tree line. His ears flicked when he heard the sound of leaves rustling and twigs snapping. He went on high alert, and used his night vision to see whoever was coming towards him. When he saw the familiar brunette walking through the tree line, looking a little nervous, he let out a sigh of relief and stepped out into the moonlight.

"Nice to see you could make it." He said, making his presence known and causing her to jump. She brought her hand to her chest and sighed.

"Cat Noir." She said. "You scared me."

"My apologies." He said, taking a step closer to her. He went to speak again, but she beat him to it.

"Wait." She said, and he closed his mouth. "I need to ask you something."

"Shoot." He told her, and she let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.

"Is...Is Marinette okay?" She asked him. "And by okay, I mean is she _really_ okay?" Cat Noir smiled sadly at her.

"The whole thing with Hawk Moth taking her parents and still not really being able to walk has got her...frustrated." He replied. "But other than that, she's okay. I promise. She's staying somewhere safe, I made sure of that."

"Thank you." Alya told him. "For taking care of her and...and for being there for her." He smiled.

"I would do anything for her." He said, and now it was Alya who smiled.

"I know." She said. "You've been in love with my girl for quite some time, huh?" Cat Noir was slightly taken aback by the question, but blushed and nodded.

"Ever since the first day we met." He told her, a reminiscent look in his eyes. "Anyway, she told me to give you this."

He unzipped one of his pockets, pulled the phone out and held it out to her. She recognized it to be the burner phone she had Marinette buy, and looked at it in confusion as she slowly took it from his hand.

"Why would Marinette want to give me this?" She asked, looking from the phone and back to Cat Noir, who was quickly typing something on his staff. He closed it and placed it back in its place before smiling at her.

"You'll see in a second." He told her. Alya's confusion only grew until she felt the phone vibrate in her hand.

"Ah!" She called out in surprise, and looked down to the phone screen. Marinette's phone number popped up across the top and Alya looked up to Cat Noir in shock.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" He asked her. "Answer it. I'll be over here when you're done."

He walked back into the shadows and leaned back against the tree, and Alya let out a shaky breath as she looked back down to the phone. She hit the answer button, and was face to face -well, kind of- with her best friend for the first time in nearly two weeks.

"Hey, Alya." Marinette greeted her softly, and Alya felt tears prick her eyes.

"Hi." She said breathlessly, and a tear slipped down her face. "Is this real? Am I really talking to you right now?"

Marinette giggled on the other line, and Alya could see the tears in her blue eyes. "Yeah." The bluenette said. "You're really talking to me right now."

"I hope you know..." Alya started. "You owe me _so_ many interviews." The girls laughed as tears fell from their eyes.

"And you'll get those interviews. I promise." Marinette told her, and she sighed. "You have no idea how much I miss you."

"Uh, I'm pretty sure I do." Alya said. "It sucks not having you around."

Marinette smiled sadly. "I know." She said. "I wish I could be there, but I can't come home. Not yet, at least."

"Not until Hawk Moth is defeated, right?" Alya asked, and Marinette nodded. "Has anybody seen anything?"

Marinette shook her head. "I didn't expect anybody to know anything, but I can't lie and say a small part of me didn't have a little shred of hope."

"Yeah..." The brunette said sadly. "Have I ever mentioned that I really _hate that bastard_?"

Marinette giggled on the other line and nodded her head. "I'm pretty sure everyone in Paris hates him, Alya." She said. "He _is_ a villain after all. Nobody likes villains."

"Not true." Alya said. "Some people like the villains in tv shows and movies if they're hot. Which _most of them are_."

"Yeah? Well, this is real life where no matter how 'hot' a villain is, nobody likes them." Marinette told her, and Alya nodded her head.

"Yeah, I'll give you that one." She said, and the girls shared a laugh again. When their laughter died down, they both just smiled at each other for a few moments before Alya spoke up and broke the silence.

"Mari, you know I love you right?" She asked, a single tear sliding down her face. Marinette nodded, a tear fell down her face too and her bottom lip quivered.

"I love you, too, Alya." She said. Alya closed her eyes and sighed contently, reveling in hearing the words come from her best friends mouth.

"You...you better get better fast and...and kick Hawk Moth's ass okay?" Alya said, her voice shaking. "You need to be able to come home and...and finish school and...graduate with Nino, Adrien and I...and go to design school like you've always wanted."

Marinette gave her a watery smile, "I will...try my hardest with the whole 'getting better fast' thing. I promise." She said. "If my Ladybug Luck comes in handy, _hopefully_ I'll be able to come back home before exams and University application deadlines...but I don't know for sure. I can promise you I'll try, though. I'll try my absolute hardest to come back home."

Alya let out a sob at the words Marinette said next.

"I won't let you down, Alya." She said. "I promise."

"As if you could _ever_ let me down." The blogger said. "Mari, I'm so..._proud_ of you. You have no idea."

Marinette nodded, and quickly wiped her eyes before smiling. "Well, it's getting late. You should probably get home and get to bed so you're not late to school tomorrow morning."

Alya's heart broke a little bit at the words, not wanting to say goodbye to her best friend for god knows how long until she saw her again.

"I love you, Alya." The bluenette said.

"I love you, too, Mari." Alya replied, and Marinette waved goodbye before leaning forward and ending the call. Alya stared at her reflection in the screen for a moment before turning the phone off and wiping her eyes. Cat Noir came back out of the shadows and walked up to her, she held the phone back out to him and he took it with a small smile before putting it in one of his pockets.

"Thank you, Cat Noir." She said, and the leather clad hero nodded.

"You want a lift home?" He asked her. "I'd hate to leave you walking home alone this late at night."

"I'm not alone." She said, shaking her head. "Nino actually came with me, but I made him stay near the front entrance until I came back. Thanks for the offer, though."

"Of course." Cat Noir said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"You're gonna get him soon, right?" She asked. "Hawk Moth?"

"As soon as we possibly can." He told her as he nodded. Alya nodded in return.

"Goodnight, Cat Noir." She said, and began walking back towards the tree line to head back to Nino and walk home.

"Goodnight, Alya." He said as he watched her walk away, and then used his staff to project himself out of the field and to the rooftops of Paris before making his way back to the house to see Marinette once more before going home for the night.

* * *

Marinette turned her phone off and set it on the bedside table. She wiped her eyes, and stared down at her knee.

"Marinette?" Tikki called her as she came fluttering back into the bedroom. "Did you have a nice talk with Alya?" Marinette let out an airy laugh and nodded.

"Yeah, I did." She said. "God, I miss her."

"I know you do." Tikki said sadly. "But hopefully this will all be over soon and you'll be able to see her again."

"Yeah..." Marinette trailed off, still staring down at her knee. An idea sparked in her head, and she knew it was probably stupid and Adrien would _definitely_ get after her for even considering it...but Adrien wasn't there at the moments and he wouldn't be for at least another ten minutes. She could try it quickly and be back in bed by the time he got back and he'd never have to know.

So, taking a deep breath, Marinette began to unstrap the velcro of her knee brace as well as the buckles.

"Marinette, what are you doing?" Tikki asked as Marinette slid the brace down her leg and laid it beside her on the bed. Marinette didn't answer as she swung her feet over the side of the bed and placed her feet on the ground. Tikki saw the look on her face, and realized what she was doing. "Marinette, no! Are you crazy? You had surgery only a week and a half ago! Any normal person would still be resting."

"Last time I checked, Tikki, I'm not a normal person." Marinette said. "Besides, I have an advantage that most don't. The magic of the Miraculous is helping my knee heal at an abnormal rate. I have to at least _try_."

"And what if you fall?" Tikki asked. "What if you only make your knee worse?"

"I'm not going to fall." Marinette protested.

"Marinette, you've literally tripped on _air._" Tikki retorted.

"Okay, would it make you feel better if I leaned against a wall or something?" Marinette sassed. "I was planning on doing that anyway."

Tikki was quiet for a moment as she thought over her answer.

"Do you promise to use the wall?" Tikki asked, and Marinette's eyes lit up as she nodded. Tikki sighed. "Fine, but only a few steps. Any more than that and I'll tell Adrien, you hear?"

Marinette nodded and slowly pushed herself up from the bed and balanced all of her weight on her good leg as she stood up straight. Her legs shook under the sudden weight, and Marinette would have toppled over had she not caught herself on the bedroom wall. Slowly, she bent her bad knee and found she could bend it pretty far until it grew painful or uncomfortable. With a newfound confidence, Marinette shifted her weight so it was equally balanced between her two legs. There was a sharp pain in her knee for a split second, but it subsided as her leg grew accustomed to holding up her body weight.

Slowly, she lifted her foot off the ground and stepped forward, and using the wall for support brought her good leg up off the ground as she strode forward, momentarily putting all of her weight on her bad leg. She hissed slightly at the sharp pain that shot up her thigh, but the pain went away as she finished stepping forward and her good leg came back into contact with the floor. She took two more agonizingly slow steps, and found herself slightly out of breath when she finished her third.

"I'm doing it, Tikki." Marinette said, looking back to her Kwami, who smiled at her.

"You're doing it." Tikki said, a wide smile on her face.

"What are you doing?" A voice came from the doorway, and Marinette froze. She turned to see Adrien standing in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed against his chest. Marinette gave him a nervous smile.

"Adrien!" She said. "You're back...I'm just...you know...uh...ugh, I'm not even going to try to get out of this one."

"So, are you actually going to explain what you're doing now?" He asked, taking a few steps into the bedroom. Marinette sighed.

"I was...walking...sort of." She said. "We have to defeat Hawk Moth sooner or later and save my parents, and I can't do anything to help if I can't walk, so...I'm trying to walk."

Adrien stared at her silently for a few moments, and Marinette looked shyly down at her feet. She only looked up again when she felt Adrien take her hands in his own and smile down at her.

"Why didn't you just ask me?" He asked her.

"Because you've been getting after me if I so much as try to go down the stairs on one foot." She said, and he chuckled.

"Yeah, because you can literally trip on air and I didn't want you to go flying down the stairs and hurting yourself even more." He said, and she pouted.

"You sound like Tikki." She told him.

"Great minds think alike, I guess." He said, causing her to giggle. "Alright, hang onto my arms."

Marinette furrowed her brows in confusion, but did as he said. He smiled, "Alright, now step forward." He told her, and she looked up at him in shock.

"I may still think it's a bit too early for this, but you'd still try it no matter what I say because of how stubborn you are," He said, and Marinette giggled again. "So, I may as well suck it up and help you so that way if you _do_ fall, I can catch you."

Marinette let out a breath, and shared a look with him before tentatively took another step forward while Adrien took a step back.

"How about we walk to the door of the bedroom and then back to the bed, but if you feel like you won't be able to make it to the bed on your own I'll carry you, okay?" Adrien suggested as he helped her take two more steps, and she only nodded in reply.

So, they continued on to the bedroom door -Marinette only hissing in pain a few times and having to assure Adrien she was fine- and Adrien asked her once they made it to the door if she thought she could make it to the bed. She tilted her head slightly as she contemplated it for a moment before nodding.

"Yeah, I think I can." She said, and Adrien raised a brow at her. "I promise if I feel I'm overdoing it, I'll let you know. Deal?" He smiled and nodded, satisfied with the compromise and they started making their way towards the bed. With every step, Marinette would feel not just her knee but her entire body getting stronger. It wasn't a lot of strength, but it was still strength. It was improvement, and she would take what she could get.

They made it back to the bed and Marinette smiled and squealed.

"I...I did it!" She cheered. "Oh my god, I actually did it!"

Adrien smiled brightly down at her, her giddiness being contagious. "You did it!"

She wrapped her arms around him and he lifted her feet off the ground as she spun her around in a circle, both of them laughing. He set her back down on her feet and as their laughter died down, they stared into each others eyes. Neither of them moved, as both of them seemed to get lost in each others gaze. Their breath hitched and their hearts began to race as they both slowly began to lean in. Their eyes sliding closed as their lips met in a tender kiss, setting off metaphorical fireworks all around them and erasing the world around them from existence.

* * *

Gabriel Agreste was a lot of things, and _stupid_ was not one of them. Finding out his own son was _Cat Noir_? One of his _sworn enemies_? Needless to say the news wasn't all that shocking, though Gabriel would never admit that out loud. He had first had his suspicions back when Adrien was fifteen, and even though he hadn't transformed when he jumped off that building -thus curbing Gabriel's initial theory about him being the leather clad hero- the thought still nagged at his brain.

He had ignored the nagging for years, telling himself he was being ridiculous, because surely if Adrien was Cat Noir, he would have transformed and saved himself. Surely. He wouldn't have continued to fall, unsure if Ladybug would truly save him. Still, the nagging _continued _to nag, so Gabriel did the one thing he could think of to ease his mind, and he had secret security cameras installed in his sons bedroom several months ago. While he was ninety percent sure the footage would prove his inkling to be wrong, when he watched the footage and saw Adrien transform into Cat Noir, he had flipped the table and broken the computer.

All this time, the Black Cat Miraculous had been right under his noise! And he didn't even realize it! Although, the more Gabriel thought about it, the more it made sense that Adrien was Cat Noir. Whenever he released an akuma on the city, not only would Adrien ditch whatever he was doing -whether it be leaving photoshoot early or ditching his bodyguard- but he was also _nowhere_ to be seen until the akuma had been defeated, much to Gabriel's annoyance.

At first, Gabriel wanted to slip into his room during the darkest hours of the night and pry the ring from his finger, but then he thought about it and realized his sons Kwami would more than likely catch him and thus expose him as Hawk Moth to Adrien if he was caught trying to take the ring away, so he let the idea go and disconnected the cameras in Adrien's bedroom, not wanting to be tortured anymore with having to see his own son transform into one of the heroes hellbent on stopping him.

Gabriel had also considered trying to coax Adrien into being on his side by telling him he was Hawk Moth and why he was doing what he was doing, but then he realized the first thing his son would do if he found out the truth would be to run to Ladybug and tell her he knew who Hawk Moth was and where to find him, and while Gabriel was always prepared for an attack of any kind, it wasn't in his plans to confront the heroes...yet.

So, he waited. Waited for the perfect opportunity to put his plan into motion and the perfect opportunity presented itself when Alice was left at the altar. He didn't hesitate when it came to akumatizing her into Revealer as well as akumatizing Arthur into Electra. Over the years his powers had gotten stronger, so he decided to take advantage of them with the two akumas he created. Little did he know the utter chaos they would ultimately cause.

But whoever said Gabriel Agreste had something against chaos?

* * *

Over the next two weeks, Adrien continued to help Marinette with her walking as much as he could whenever he was able to make it to the house to visit her. She still walked when he wasn't there, but used the wall to help keep her up right. They had been slowly working her into not needing to hang onto anything to walk and thus walking on her own, it was difficult at first, but she was beginning to manage just fine.

Neither of them talked about the kiss. Truthfully, they didn't know how to talk about it. As soon as they parted, Adrien got a call from Nathalie asking where he was and that he needed to get home before his father found out he was gone. Adrien had quickly transformed and leapt away into the night, leaving Marinette standing there in the bedroom questioning what the kiss meant.

Why had he kissed her? Why had _she_ kissed _him_? She truly didn't know. She had always dreamed of her first kiss with Adrien, and needless to say none of the scenarios that she had come up with in her head had anything to do with them both being excited over her finally being able to actually _walk_...somewhat.

Why _had_ he kissed her? She knew Adrien was in love with Ladybug and as much as Marinette knew she _was_ Ladybug, she didn't _feel_ like Ladybug when she wasn't transformed. When she wasn't transformed, she was plain old Marinette in her own eyes. So, _why_ had Adrien kissed her if he loved Ladybug and not Marinette? There wasn't a chance that he loved _Marinette_, was there? The bluenette wasn't sure, and found herself wracking her brain every night trying to figure out the answer to the question she was just too afraid to ask him. Which pegged the question...

Did she even _want_ to know the answer?

Yet another thing she was unsure of. If she were being honest, she was afraid to ask Adrien why he kissed her because she was afraid of his answer. What would he say? She didn't know, and that's what scared her the most, but she didn't have time to worry about a kiss and what it meant. Hawk Moth had been going all in with akumas lately, and Marinette was starting to get tired. It was easier to walk and run in the Miraculous bodysuit, and the frequent transformations meant her healing abilities would kick in and help her knee heal faster and thus help her get steady on her feet again faster, but that didn't mean she still didn't have some trouble here and there. Thankfully though, one the rare chance she did fall or trip, Adrien was right there to catch her before she could hit the ground.

"How you holding up?" Adrien -currently Cat Noir- asked her as they ran away from the press that were trying to ask them questions about the akuma they had just defeated. Their Miraculous were running out of time, and even though Marinette's identity had already been revealed, she wasn't taking any chances that could lead to Adrien's being revealed too.

"I'm okay." She answered honestly. "I'm a little sore, but it's nothing I can't handle."

"You sure?" He asked, and she smiled.

"I'm _fine_, kitty." She said. "You shouldn't worry so much."

Marinette saw the reporters and paparazzi still chasing after them, so she grabbed her yoyo and swung it. It grappled around something, and she grabbed Cat Noir around the waist and he let out a yelp of surprise.

"Hold on tight, kitty." She said, and felt his arms wrap around her shoulders as she swung them up into the air and as far away from the press as possible. They landed on the rooftops and continued to run back to the house, making sure to stay out of sigh of any civilians that could possibly see them. Their transformations wore off as soon as they flew through the bedroom window and they both stood there to catch their breath for a moment.

"That was a close one." Adrien panted, and Marinette let out an airy laugh.

"Too close if you ask me." She said. "It's bad enough my secret identity was outed, we don't need the same thing happening with you."

"No, we do _not_." Adrien agreed.

"You know what else we don't need? Starving Kwamis! Where's my cheese?" Plagg yelled out, and Marinette snorted as she burst into a fit of giggles.

"Oh, hush, you pig." Adrien said, handing Plagg a slice of camembert from his jacket. Plagg gulped the cheese down in one bite and sighed in satisfaction while Marinette handed Tikki a cookie to eat.

Marinette and Adrien stood there in an awkward silence just staring at each other, neither one of them knowing what to say. Damn, who knew talking about a kiss would be so awkward and tense?

"Look, Adrien I-" She began to say, but was interrupted by both of their phones beeping. They grabbed them from their pockets and saw they both got a notification from the Ladyblog.

"Why is Alya live-streaming?" Adrien asked in confusion. "We already defeated the akuma."

Marinette shrugged, and they both unlocked their phones to see what Alya was live-streaming. Marinette gasped aloud and nearly dropped her phone when she saw what appeared on her screen as she opened the live-stream.

Hawk Moth stood at the top of the tower, and dangling from a thick rope below him, were her parents.

* * *

**A/N: I know, I know. You're mad I left it on a cliffhanger. I'm sorry! I had to! The final battle is coming! **

**Leave a review maybe?**

**~Charlotte**


	10. The Final Battle

**The Final Battle**

Marinette and Adrien had quickly transformed back into their superhero personas and were running across the rooftops once more as they made their way to the Eiffel Tower.

"I can't believe he's threatening to drop my parents from the top of the Eiffel Tower!" Ladybug exclaimed. "All of this for two things of jewelry?"

"Should we get the rest of the team on this?" Cat Noir asked, and Ladybug shook her head.

"There isn't enough time to go and get the Miraculouses and then go get all three of them." She said. "We're in this on our own...and this ends _today_."

They nodded at each other and continued to make their way to the Eiffel Tower. They arrived on the scene, the police had the Eiffel Tower barricaded off and had called an emergency evacuation on the Eiffel Tower, so the only people actually on the tower were Hawk Moth and Marinette's parents. Dozens of reporters and paparazzi were crowded along the barricade, along with Alya who was still live-streaming everything that was happening on the Ladyblog. There were police helicopters in the sky surrounding the tower, along with a news helicopter that was covering the birds eye view of what was happening.

A silence fell upon them all when Ladybug and Cat Noir made their presence known, both heroes stood tall on the roof of a building close to the tower, and Hawk Moth smirked when he saw them.

"Ah! Ladybug, Cat Noir, I'm _delighted_ you could join us!" He called out to them, and both heroes only glared at him, causing him to chuckle evilly. "Come on, what's with the faces?"

"Let my parents _go_, you bastard!" Ladybug yelled, and Hawk Moth's smirk became even more sinister.

"As you wish, Ladybug." He said, pulling on the rope, thus undoing the knot that had been holding her parents up and causing them to begin to fall.

"No!" Ladybug screamed, and Hawk Moth caught the rope with ease. Her parents stopped falling, and Hawk Moth gave her an evil smirk.

"I'm sorry." He said in mock innocence. "Is that not what you meant?"

Ladybug only glowered at the purple clad villain in reply.

"You're a real sick bastard you know that?" Cat Noir sneered, and Hawk Moth only chuckled.

"So I've been told." He said. "Although I must say, I'm a little sad you didn't bring the rest of your little team with you. What? Don't want them to watch you be defeated?"

"If _anyone_ is going to be defeated today, it's you!" Ladybug yelled.

"That's where you're wrong, Ladybug." Hawk Moth said. "You see, unlike you two, _I _brought backup."

Hawk Moth stepped aside, and a woman walked up beside him. She adorned a floor length purple dress that fanned out to look like peacock feathers at the bottom.

"Ladybug, Cat Noir, meet Mayura." Hawk Moth introduced his partner.

"She has the peacock Miraculous!" Ladybug said quietly to Cat Noir. "The other Miraculous that Master Fu lost!"

"Greetings, young superheroes." Mayura greeted them in a soft tone. "I must say, it is utterly amusing that you think you can win."

"We don't _think_ we can." Cat Noir growled. "We _know_ we can."

"Your confidence in yourselves is almost impressive." She told them. "I can't wait to watch you meet your demise."

Mayura nodded to Hawk Moth, who smirked menacingly and began to release multiple evilized butterflies. The butterflies fluttered rapidly around the base of the Eiffel Tower and began akumatizing people one by one.

"Maybe we should have gotten the rest of the team after all." Ladybug said to Cat Noir as the two of them watched more and more people become akumatized down in the streets below.

"Well, it's like you said. There's not enough time." He told her.

"Alya!" Ladybug gasped as she saw the akuma heading towards her best friend who was trying to swat it away to the best of her ability. Ladybug swung into action, landed between Alya and the akuma, and captured the purple butterfly in her yoyo, purifying it. She released it back into the sky and turned to face Alya.

"Alya, get out of here! Run!" She exclaimed. "You not getting akumatized is more important than getting your scoop, so please, _run!_"

"What about you?!" Alya asked.

"I'll be fine!" She assured her. "I'm Ladybug, remember? It's my job to protect you, so _please, _get out of here!"

Alya looked hesitant for a moment, and then she reached out and wrapped the super heroine in a bone crushing hug, which Ladybug happily returned before quickly forcing them to part.

"Good luck, Marinette." Alya said, and Ladybug nodded. Alya turned and began to run away from the Eiffel Tower.

"Ladybug! I could use some help over here!" She heard Cat Noir call for her. Her head snapped in the direction of his voice, and saw that he was caught in the hands -paws?- of Gorizilla. She leapt into action and swung her yoyo towards the villain. It wrapped around his thumb once more and she pulled hard, causing his fist around her partner to unclench. Cat Noir extended his staff and projected himself out of the akumas grasp. He propelled himself forward and came down to land beside her.

"Did Alya get away safely?" He asked quietly, and she only nodded in reply.

"We can't use our powers." She said. "Not yet at least. There's too many akumas and we can't waste time by leaving to re-charge."

"We've got this, LB." Chat said. "We've already beaten them all twice before. Third times the charm, right?"

"Let's hope so." She said, and they sprung into action. Fighting the akumas and even managing to purify a couple, the victims were then led away by police and taken to a safe place away from the chaos.

"Oh Marinette?" A voice came from behind her, and Ladybug whirled around on her heels to see Electra and Revealer. She froze. "Did you miss us?"

Electra made electricity spark in his palms, and Marinette's heart began to race as she was brought back to that fateful day in the basement. Cat Noir -who was busy fighting off Riposte- looked over and saw her standing there frozen in front of them. Then, he noticed Dark Cupid flying towards her with an arrow ready to shoot.

"Ladybug, behind you!" He called out to her, and she seemed to snap out of whatever trance she was in. She turned just in time to see Dark Cupid shoot at her. She leapt out of the way, and the arrow came into contact with the ground instead of her chest.

Ladybug was about to get back into fighting when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see who was behind her and a look of horror came over her face when she saw it was Electra. He grinned darkly at her, and began to electrocute her. Ladybug began to scream as her body convulsed from the electrocution. She cried out and writhed in pain, and black dots began to cloud her vision.

Suddenly, the electricity left her body and she gasped for air as the pain escaped her. She stumbled for a moment, but caught herself before she could fall. She turned to see Cat Noir pinning Electra to the ground with his staff and snarling menacingly at the villain. Ladybug looked and saw Revealer walk up behind him and hold out her left hand.

"Lets find out _your_ true identity, shall we?" She sneered, and Ladybug ran towards her. She jumped between Revealer and Chat just in time to block the blast with her yoyo.

"Marinette, are you okay?" She heard him ask her while he continued to keep Electra pinned down.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She replied. "Let's take care of these guys, shall we?"

"Don't have to tell _me _twice." He said, and grabbed Electra's bracelet. He smashed it against the pavement and the akuma flew out of it. Ladybug purified it, and Electra turned back into Arthur, who quickly got up and ran away as fast as he could. Ladybug leapt forward and tackled Revealer. She pinned her left wrist down to the ground and Cat Noir slipped the ring off her finger before crushing it in his hand. Ladybug purified the akuma, and told the now de-akumatized Alice to run away, which she did.

"Now that _that's_ done." Ladybug huffed, and the two heroes took off towards the other akumas. They managed to de-akumatize Gorizilla, Gigantitan, Riposte, Princess Fragrance and Dark Cupid. Why their classmates were even at the Eiffel Tower was beyond them, but they chalked it up to them all wanting to see the final battle up close.

"Great, Ice Queen is back." Cat Noir scoffed.

"I told you before, my name is _Stormy Weather_!" Stormy Weather seethed through clenched teeth and aimed a bolt of lighting at Cat Noir, who easily blocked it with a twirl of his staff. Cat Noir and Stormy Weather started going at it, and Ladybug began fighting with the Pharaoh. She was so enwrapped in fighting him, she didn't even see the Mime coming up behind her until she felt a sharp stinging in her calf.

"Gah!" She cried out, and looked down to see blood flowing from a fresh gash on her leg. She turned to see the Mime holding an invisible sword and smirking at her. She went to charge at him, but was grabbed from behind by the Pharaoh. She trashed in his arms, and managed to land a kick in his gut. He released her, and she grabbed his pendant from around his neck as she fell to the ground. She smashed it against the cement and quickly captured the akuma in her yoyo. She leapt back up to face the Mime and he began shooting at her with an invisible gun. Ladybug dodged the invisible bullets with her yoyo, and charged at him. She leapt above him and grabbed his hat off of his head, tearing the picture inside as she flipped in mid air and landed on her feet. The akuma flew out and she quickly cleansed it, then went to help Cat Noir with Stormy Weather.

Ladybug wrapped her yoyo around Stormy Weather's ankles and began to yank her down out of the sky. She yelped out in surprise, and Cat Noir quickly grabbed her parasol form her hands, snapping it in half. He caught Aurore before she hit the ground while Ladybug purified the darkened butterfly. Animan jumped at them, and Cat Noir whacked him away with his staff.

"Try not to jump into any dinosaurs mouths again, okay, m'lady?" He asked her, and she gagged.

"Please, the first time was enough for me." Was all she said and they ran towards the other akumas. Cat Noir took on Animan while Ladybug went after the Evillustrator. Seriously, they _needed_ to have a talk with their classmates once this was over. Witnessing the final battle up close wasn't worth getting akumatized for crying out loud!

Ladybug took care of Evillustrator with ease and had captured his akuma in her yoyo as Cat Noir had broken Animan's bracelet. She quickly captured that akuma as well and purified them both, releasing the now white butterflies back into the sky. Ladybug looked over to her partner, and felt her heart stop when she saw what akuma was coming up from behind him.

Timebreaker.

"No!" She screamed and ran towards Cat Noir, who looked slightly confused at her outburst. Ladybug jumped over Cat Noir's head and dived for Timebreaker as she held her hand out to touch the leather clad hero. Ladybug pinned Timebreaker's wrists to the pavement and straddled her so she couldn't move.

"No!" She repeated. "You don't get to take him away from me! Not again! Cat Noir, get her rollerblades!"

"On it, m'lady." He said, and grabbed Timebreaker's foot. He snapped the rollerblades in half and the akuma flew out, Ladybug captured it quickly and the two heroes continued on battling every akuma on sight. Mr. Pigeon tried his hardest to get the upper hand on them, but in the end it was no use and he was easily de-akumatized and then sent off to safety. Horrificator and Stoneheart were a little difficult, but in the end, Ivan and Mylène's akumas were purified and the couple ran away from the scene to get to safety and stay out of the way of the superhero duo.

Cat Noir began fighting with Darkblade, meanwhile Ladybug took on Simon Says. Simon Says was easy, but Cat Noir seemed to be having a little trouble with Darkblade so Ladybug jumped in to help him and together they took him down and purified his akuma. The victims made their way to safety and the duo then came face to face with Rogercop and Pixelator. Rogercop blasted at them with the red and blue handcuffs, but the heroes dodged them with ease while making sure not to look into the lens of Pixelator's camera at the same time. Ultimately, both akumas were purified, but more continued to come at them.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Cat Noir asked her as he tried to catch his breath, and Ladybug nodded.

"He's trying to tire us out." She said, the cut on her leg throbbing. "If we want even the slightest chance at beating him once and for all, we have to stop all of these akuma villains as fast as possible. You go left and I go right?"

Cat Noir nodded, and the duo leapt into action with a newfound determination. Reflekta was taken down with ease, as well as Silencer. After Dark Owl was taken care of, the heroes worked together to de-akumatize and purify Glaciator, and André quickly gave the heroes his thanks before running away to safety. Reverser and Sandboy were a bit difficult, but in the end both were defeated and their akumas were purified.

The heroes were panting and their chests heaved as they stood up straight to look to Hawk Moth.

"It's _over_, Hawk Moth!" Ladybug yelled. "We've taken care of your villains, and now we're coming for you!"

"You take _one step_ towards me and your parents will meet their doom." Hawk Moth taunted when Ladybug and Cat Noir moved to run towards the Eiffel Tower. The heroes paused and glared up at the villain, who only smirked menacingly back down at them.

"Follow my lead, okay?" Ladybug whispered to Cat Noir, who winked at her.

"Always, bugaboo." He said, and the two heroes nodded to each other before running towards the tower. Hawk Moth laughed.

"Do you _doubt me_, Ladybug?" He asked, and released the rope. Her parents began to fall, and they screamed in fear.

"Cat Noir, now!" Ladybug called out, and Cat Noir extended his staff to launch himself into the air. He used his claws to tear the rope and release Marinette's parents. Cat Noir caught Tom while Ladybug leapt up and caught Sabine and they brought them safely back to the ground.

"Marinette!" Her parents gushed upon seeing her and brought her into a hug. Marinette hugged them back, but only for few moments before pulling back.

"As much as I've missed you guys, I have a villain to defeat." She said. "So, I love you, and I'll see you as soon as this is over."

"We love you, too, Marinette." Her father told her. Marinette smiled at them and then grabbed onto Cat Noir. He launched them up with his staff and they landed in front of Hawk Moth and Mayura.

"Ah, the moment has arrived." Hawk Moth said. "It's time for the heroes to meet their demise."

"In your dreams, Hawk Moth." Cat Noir said, getting in a fighting stance. The two heroes and villains charged at each other, with Ladybug fighting Mayura and Cat Noir fighting Hawk Moth. Hawk Moth went to strike Cat Noir with his cane, but the hero easily blocked it with his staff, and in that moment Gabriel slightly regretted making Adrien take fencing classes.

Mayura and Ladybug engaged in hand to hand combat, both dodging and throwing punches and kicks. Ladybug managed to punch Mayura across the face, and the red clad hero couldn't help but smile when she heard the villain cry out in pain. However, Mayura quickly retaliated and managed to kick Ladybug's feet out from under her. The red clad super heroine fell on her back with a loud bang and a yelp of pain. Cat Noir -distracted by her being taken down- got his staff swatted away from him by Hawk Moth. His staff flew over the railing and landed on the ground below with a loud clank.

Hawk Moth grabbed his wrists and twisted the hero's arms behind his back while Mayura straddled Ladybug and pinned her hands down above her head with on hand.

"We'll be taking your Miraculouses now." Mayura said in a calm tone. Both Ladybug and Cat Noir struggled against the villains as their fingers grabbed ahold of their magic jewelry. Hawk Moth smiled evilly as he swiftly slid the ring off of Cat Noir's finger. Green light enveloped him as his transformation was forcefully ripped away.

"No!" Adrien cried out as his Miraculous was taken from him and his identity was revealed to all of Paris. Gasps could be heard from below as the leather clad hero was revealed to be the famous model that everyone knew and loved.

Anger surged through Ladybug and with newfound strength, and banged her head hard against Mayura's as the villain went to undo the clasp of her earrings. The villain cried out and released her wrists, and Ladybug took the open opportunity to elbow Mayura in the face and cause her to topple over. Ladybug leapt to her feet and flung her yoyo towards Hawk Moth. It knocked into Hawk Moth's knuckles and he let out a grunt of pain as Adrien's Miraculous went flying into the air. She quickly caught it while Adrien quickly turned and kicked Hawk Moth in the gut and caused him to stumble backwards.

She handed him his ring and he quickly slid it back on his finger, barely giving Plagg a chance to react to anything before calling on his transformation.

"So much for my secret identity not being revealed." He muttered.

"We'll deal with that later." Ladybug said. "For now, let's focus on taking these guys down once and for all."

Cat Noir only nodded, and went to attack the villains again, except they were nowhere to be seen.

"Where did they go?" She asked, and they looked over the railing to see Hawk Moth and Mayura down on the ground below holding her parents captive once more with blades held to their throats.

"No!" Ladybug cried out, and she and Cat Noir swung down to the ground on her yoyo. "Haven't you hurt them enough? Let them go!"

"I'm giving you a choice, Ladybug." Hawk Moth sneered. "Either your parents lives, or your Miraculouses. Your choice."

Both heroes felt sick. Hawk Moth was willing to go as far as _kill_ two innocent people all because he wanted their Miraculouses. Ladybug and Cat Noir looked to each other with worried expressions, neither of them knowing what to do. If they made a move towards either Hawk Moth or Mayura they would slit her parents throats faster than you could say 'Miraculous', but if they did nothing and gave Hawk Moth their Miraculouses he would wreak havoc on not only Paris but the entire world. As much as Marinette didn't want her parents to die, it was an impossible decision to make, and a lose-lose situation on their part of it all.

So, in a desperate cry, Ladybug threw her yoyo up into the air and yelled, "Lucky Charm!"

The object fell into her hands, "A Miraculous box?" She said in confusion and Hawk Moth cackled mockingly at her.

"How do you plan on using a silly box to defeat me, Ladybug?" He taunted, and Ladybug glared. She opened the box to see if there was anything inside, and had to mask her surprise when she saw two exact replicas of her and Adrien's Miraculouses sitting inside. She quickly closed the box and looked to Cat Noir.

"Trust me, okay?" She whispered to him, and stepped forward. "Fine, Hawk Moth! You win. We'll give you our Miraculouses."

"Marinette, no-" Her mother went to say, but Mayura pressed the blade harder against her throat, thus silencing the woman, and Cat Noir looked at her with wide eyes.

"What are you doing?" He whispered.

"I told you to trust me." She whispered back. "But you need to let my parents go first."

"If you think I'm going to fall for that-" Hawk Moth began to say.

"What's there to fall for?" She interrupted. "I'd rather my parents be alive than be a hero. So, believe me when I say I _promise_ we will give you our Miraculouses if you let my parents go first."

The hero and the villain held eye contact for what seemed like hours when in reality it was mere seconds, and Hawk Moth smiled as he bought her story.

"Very well." He said, taking the blade away from her father's throat and Mayura doing the same with her mother. The villains shoved her parents towards her, but she and Cat Noir caught them as they stumbled so they wouldn't fall over.

_Are you sure you'll be able to make this work, Tikki? _Marinette thought to her Kwami.

_I'm sure, Marinette. Don't worry._ Tikki replied, and Marinette let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. She made her parents stand behind them, and with heavy hearts, the two heroes dropped their transformations.

There stood Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste. Paris' famous protectors in their most vulnerable state in front of their sworn enemy. Marinette shared a look with Tikki as she reached up and hesitantly removed her earrings, Adrien doing the same with his ring. He handed it to Marinette, who covered her hand with his to let him feel the replica of his ring press against his palm. He easily contained his surprise and quickly slid his hand holding his ring into his pocket when Marinette drew her hand away, acting as if she had taken it from him. Marinette clutched her real earrings in her left hand, and the replicas of their Miraculouses in her right to make it look like she was clenching her fists nervously.

She slowly walked up to the the villains, and Hawk Moth held his hand out to her as she got closer and grinned menacingly at her. Shakily, she raised her right hand and dropped the replicas into the villains hand. His fists closed around the jewelry quickly, and Marinette ran back to Adrien, running straight into his arms and shoving her face into his shoulder to make it appear as though she was upset. Adrien went along with it and hugged her back tightly while petting her hair.

"At last!" Hawk Moth cheered as he and Mayura turned to face the victims beyond the barricade set up by police. "The power of the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculouses is mine!"

He opened his hand to admire the jewels, and then to his utter shock, they faded away in his hand. "What?!" He shouted.

"Did you _seriously _think we would give up our Miraculouses that easily?" Hawk Moth and Mayura whirled around to see Marinette and Adrien -now transformed into Ladybug and Cat Noir- grinning at them triumphantly with their weapons held at the ready.

"You tricked me!" Hawk Moth snarled.

"_Duh_." Ladybug said. "I must say Hawk moth I am _really glad_ that you aren't as smart as I thought you were. It made everything _that_ much easier for me."

Hawk Moth growled, and then he and Mayura began to charge at the young heroes, who were ready for the attack and easily fought them off. Marinette's parents had long since run to safety and watched anxiously with the other bystanders as the two heroes and villains fought each other.

The heroes threw and dodged punches and kicks as the fight continued on, and made themselves look like they were growing tired to Hawk Moth and Mayura would believe they were getting the upper hand on them.

"We've got to get them close to one another if we want the final part of the plan to work." Ladybug muttered to Cat Noir.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" He asked, and she nodded. They ran towards the villains, and made it easy for the villains to land hard blows on them. The two heroes fell to the ground with grunt of pain as they came into hard contact with the concrete, and Hawk Moth and Mayura stood above them, smirking deviously down at them.

"It's no use." Mayura said. "You can't win."

"Yeah," Ladybug said, and threw her yoyo at them. It wrapped around the two villains -who gasped in surprise- tying their arms down to their sides so they couldn't move. "We can."

Hawk Moth and Mayura collapsed to the ground, and Ladybug and Cat Noir loomed over them.

"Now, if you don't mind." Cat Noir said, reaching down to Hawk Moth. "It will be _us_ who will be taking _your_ Miraculouses."

"No!" Hawk Moth and Mayura screamed simultaneously as the heroes reached down, grabbed their Miraculouses and ripped them from their bodies. Bright lights flashed, and Adrien felt his world come crashing down as the two villains were revealed.

"Father?!" He cried. "Nathalie?"

"Hello, Adrien." His father sneered at him.

"Why?" Adrien asked. "Why were you doing all of this? What was the point?"

"The _point_ was..." Gabriel panted. "Your mother."

"My mother?" Adrien asked angrily, a tear slipping from his eye. "My mother wouldn't have wanted this."

"I was going to bring her _back_, Adrien!" Gabriel exclaimed. "I was going to use the wish and bring her back to us. To _you_!"

"Mom is _dead_, father!" Adrien yelled. "She's _dead_, and she is _never_ coming back! _I know that_, and I thought you did too. But I guess not."

The police came rushing over, and Marinette released the villains from her yoyo as they were handcuffed and lead away. She grabbed the Miraculous box that Tikki had made re-appear and tossed it up into the air. Calling for the Miraculous Ladybug cure to undo any damage caused by the many akumas the two heroes had fought. As the swarms of Ladybugs finished repairing any damage, the two teens released their transformations -not seeing the point in running off anymore since both of their identities had been revealed- and huffed tiredly.

"Adrien, are you okay?" Marinette asked after a moment, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"He was all I had left, Marinette." Adrien said. "My mom is dead, and even though he wasn't around most of the time or was cold towards me he...he was all I had left."

"Adrien, I'm so sorry." She said sadly.

"My _father_ was Hawk Moth, Mari." He voice shook. "All this time it was _him_, and I didn't realize it. I should have realized it, I should have-"

"No." She said softly, bringing him into a warm embrace. Adrien clung to her tightly and began to cry into her shoulder. "Adrien, don't blame yourself. Your father being Hawk Moth isn't anybodies fault but his own. And...he wasn't all you had left. You have me...you've had me for a long time."

Adrien's body continued to wrack with sobs, and Marinette tangled her fingers in his soft, blond hair at the nape of his neck as he clung tighter to him. Wishing with everything in her that she could take his pain away.

"Please, don't ever leave me, Marinette." He whimpered against her, and she felt tears of her own prick her eyes.

"Never." She said softly. "I will never leave you, Adrien. I promise."

He pulled away and looked down into her bright blue eyes, his green eyes glistening with tears. He rested his forehead on hers and they stared into each others eyes.

"I love you..." He whispered, and Marinette's breath hitched in her throat, but she smiled warmly at him.

"I love you, too." She said.

They both slowly leaned in, and their lips met in a bittersweet kiss. Marinette brushed the tears from his face with her thumbs after they pulled apart and smiled at him. He smiled back at her, and his eyes glanced over at something behind her. Marinette turned to see what he was looking at, and was met with the sight of her parents.

"We don't need to have _the talk_, do we?" Her father asked her. The teens blushed and Marinette giggled and shook her head.

"No, papa." She said. "No talk needed." Her father placed a hand over his heart and let out a huff of relief.

"Oh, thank god." He said. Marinette giggled some more and her parents walked up and embraced her tightly.

"We are _so _proud of you, Marinette." Her mother told her as she clung to her.

Adrien shifted awkwardly on his feet, feeling as though he was intruding on something. Tom looked up at him and waved him over.

"Come on, son." He said. "Get in here."

"Oh, n-no. It's-I'm fine-" Adrien stammered.

"Nonsense." Sabine said. "You kept our little girl safe all this time. Besides, you're part of the family now, so come on. Get in here."

Reluctantly, Adrien walked over to the trio and Tom immediately wrapped his arms around the boy, bringing him into the group hug. Adrien tensed at first, but then relaxed and reveled in the warmth the hug brought him.

They all pulled apart after a few minutes and smiled at each other.

"Let's go home." Tom said and Sabine nodded. Marinette smiled and began walking with her parents. Adrien hesitated. His father and Nathalie were just arrested. Did he even have a home anymore? He wasn't sure. Marinette noticed him still standing there, and turned to face him. She smiled and held out her hand.

"You coming, kitty?" She asked, and Adrien knew right then that he _did_ have a home. Marinette.

Marinette was his home.

* * *

**A/N: GUYS! This chapter is over 5,000 words and that's _not_ counting anything in this authors note. That's _insane_ to me. **

**Anyway, hope the final battle was ****satisfying. This is _NOT_ the final chapter. There are still about two more chapters coming before the story is over. Stay tuned!**

**~Charlotte**


	11. Aftermath

**A/N: Holy shit, just one more chapter after this one and this story is finished...this is so bizarre because I've never actually completed a story with more than three chapters on this site before.**

**Also, things are going to start moving a bit fast as the story comes to a close, just so you're aware.**

**Anyhow, let's get chapter 11 started, shall we?**

* * *

**Aftermath**

The next morning, Marinette woke up sore. Every single muscle in her body ached with every move she made, and she let out a tired groan as she slowly began to sit up in her bed. She started to stretch, but immediately regretted it as her muscles began to painfully contract in protest. She let out a quiet squeak of pain and slumped her shoulders lazily. She looked down at the sleeping model beside her, and smiled softly as she reached over to brush his hair out of his eyes. She quickly retracted her hand when his head began to move and his eyes fluttered open. He let out a tired sigh as she looked up at her and smiled.

"Good morning, Princess." He said, his voice husky from sleep. She hummed as her smile widened.

"Good morning, kitty." She replied.

"Ugh, everything _hurts_." He groaned as he shifted so he was laying on his back instead of on his side like he previously was. "My muscles are screaming at me."

"That makes two of us." She said, giggling lightly. "Yesterday definitely took a toll on us."

"Tell me about it." He mumbled, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Marinette frowned.

"Are you okay?" She asked him. "Do you...want to talk about it?"

"What's there to talk about?" Adrien asked. "My father was Hawk Moth, that's all there is to it."

"That's not all there is to it, Adrien, and you know it." She said softly, and he sighed.

"I just...I hate that I'm not as surprised as I should be." He told her. "Sure, when I ripped his Miraculous from him and it was revealed that he was Hawk Moth, I was surprised-_hurt _even, but...now that I've had time to wrap my head around it all, its not all that surprising. After thinking about it...it makes _sense_ that it was my father who was Hawk Moth. With how cold and secretive and..._unfeeling_ he was? I can't imagine Hawk Moth being anybody else."

"Adrien...I'm _so_ sorry." Marinette said sadly. "I'm sorry you had to lose your father, too."

"If we're being honest, Marinette," Adrien sighed heavily. "I had already lost him before everything that happened yesterday. He stopped being my father a long time ago."

Marinette, not knowing what to say, smiled sadly at him and nodded.

"Besides, it's like you said." He said, grabbing one of her hands in his own and lacing their fingers together before placing a kiss on the back of her hand. "I have you."

Marinette smiled down at him, nodding once more before laying down on his chest despite her body's painful protests against the movement. Adrien unclasped their hands to wrap his arm around her and hug her close to him. They both sighed in content at being in each others arms, and Marinette brought her hand up to trace random patterns on Adrien's chest as she listened to the beating of his heart.

"Do you think its worth it to try and go to school today?" He asked her, and she let out an airy laugh.

"Probably not." She said. "Not only am I worn out from everything that happened yesterday, but I don't think my legs would be able to hold me up for that long with the way their hurting right now."

"You have a fair point." He said, chuckling, causing his chest to vibrate beneath her. "I think everyone will understand if we take a day or two off."

"Well, I've already been gone so long as it is." Marinette said. "As much as I want to get back to school and catch up on everything I missed, I don't see the harm in taking a couple of days to recover before officially going back."

"Sounds like a plan." Adrien said. "Wanna go back to sleep?"

"I don't know. What time is is?" Marinette asked, reluctantly sitting up and grabbing her phone to check the time, and she giggled. "Well, school started an hour and a half ago."

"Now see, _that_ right there? It's a sign." Adrien said. "Its fate for us not to go school today...or tomorrow." Marinette snorted as she set her phone back down and laid her head back down on his chest, taking in a long whiff of his scent as she did so.

"Let's just go back to sleep." She said, closing her eyes and shifting her body so it was in a comfortable position.

"No need to tell me twice, bugaboo." He said, pulling her close again. The couple got comfortable, reveling in the warmth and feeling of safety they brought one another, and it wasn't long before they fell back into a deep sleep.

* * *

When they woke up again, it was well into the afternoon, and the only reason they woke up again was because a certain cat-like Kwami was hungry.

"Kid. Kid!" Plagg nagged, jumping up and down on Adrien's forehead. "I need _cheese_."

"Plagg, what the hell are you doing?" Adrien asked groggily as he and Marinette slowly opened their eyes, feeling a lot less sore than they had earlier.

"Isn't it obvious?" Plagg asked. "I'm waking you up so you can _feed me_."

"The Dupain-Cheng's know about you and told you that you could go get camembert whenever you needed it." Adrien reminded him, Marinette hummed in amusement beside him as she remembered how introducing their Kwami's to their parents went. Her parents had initially freaked out at first upon seeing the tiny creatures flying around them, but eventually warmed up to them.

"I don't remember where they said they keep it!" He told them.

"Bottom drawer in the fridge downstairs." Marinette said tiredly, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Kid, your girlfriend is a godsend." Plagg said, then took off to go get his oh so precious cheese.

"Did he just call me your girlfriend?" Marinette asked, and Adrien's brows furrowed as he looked at her.

"That not okay?" He asked.

"What? No! No, its-its totally okay." She assured him quickly. "I just...didn't think we had officially labeled" She motioned between them, "this."

"Well, I guess I never _did_ ask." He said, and then gave her a dorky smile. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng, would you do me the extraordinary honor of being my girlfriend?"

She snorted and nodded her head, "Yes." She said simply, placing a quick kiss on his lips and then throwing the covers off of them. "We should get out of bed now."

"I suppose so." Adrien huffed, following her down from her loft bed to the main level of her bedroom. Marinette dug through her closet looking for an outfit to wear, asking Adrien what he thought would look good on her.

"Marinette, you could walk around wearing a potato sack and you'd still be the most beautiful girl I've ever seen." He told her simply, and her cheeks flushed a bright pink. Marinette finally picked an outfit and told him she'd be right back as she left her room to head to the bathroom to change. As she left, Plagg came flying back into the room.

"Did you find your precious camembert?" Adrien teased.

"As a matter of fact, I did." Plagg told him, and Adrien chuckled.

"You and your cheese." Tikki said as she came fluttering over. "I still don't know why you like it so much."

"Well, I don't know why you like cookies so much but you don't hear _me_ complaining." Plagg huffed, to which Adrien laughed.

"Plagg, _all you do_ is complain." The model pointed out.

"I do _not_." Plagg argued.

"Yes you do." Tikki piped up. "I've known you for more than a millennia, I would know." Plagg gasped dramatically.

"Sugar cube! How could you insult me like this?" He asked, feigning hurt.

"Marinette kept telling Adrien the same thing about calling her bugaboo, and did that stop him? No." Plagg deadpanned, to which Tikki rolled her eyes and Adrien chuckled at their banter. Both Kwami's continued to banter as they left Marinette's bedroom so Adrien could change into the clothes he had fetched from his house the previous night before the Dupain-Cheng's brought them to their house for the night. He had just finished putting his shirt on when the Marinette came back into the room with a smile on her face, all dressed and ready for the remainder of the day. She held her hand out to him, a bright twinkle in her blue eyes.

"Come on, kitty." She said.

"Where are we going?" He asked, taking her outstretched hand in his own and following her down the stairs of the apartment. She gave him a knowing look and held up a picnic basket in her other hand.

"_We_ are going out." Was all she said.

"Like on a date?" He asked as they exited the apartment, Plagg and Tikki hiding in Marinette's purse.

"What would you say if the answer to that question was yes?" She asked, and he smiled at her.

"Lead the way, m'lady." He said, and she giggled. She said a quick goodbye to her parents as they passed by the bakery door and exited trough the side door. As they made it outside, Adrien could hear the shutter of cameras and see many flashes. He looked to Marinette in confusion.

"There's a lot of paparazzi outside the bakery." She answered his silent question. "They're all _dying_ to get a picture of us or a statement about what happened yesterday, according to my parents. Fear you not, though. They can't reach us where we're going."

"Where _are_ we going?" He asked her. She unclasped her purse and their Kwami's flew out.

"Transform and follow me and you'll see." She said, setting the basket down and and quickly transforming, Adrien followed suit and ran beside Marinette on the rooftops. The paparazzi spotted them and ran after them in the streets below yelling out questions and asking them to stop for a few quick pictures. The superhero duo paid no mind to them as they continued to run across the rooftops, both of them reveling in the feeling of the wind in their hair and on their faces. Adrenaline coursing through them as they jumped from building to building. Adrien recognized the direction they were going, and faced Marinette as they ran.

"Notre Dame?" He asked, and she only smiled and nodded at him. Marinette swung to the roof of the church on her yoyo, and he followed closely behind her using his staff to launch himself into the air. They landed on the roof and along until they couldn't be seen from the streets below. They released their transformations and Marinette pulled a blanket out from the picnic basket, laying it out for them to sit on. She opened the picnic basket and set out a plate of camembert for Plagg and a plate of cookies for Tikki. Then, she pulled out a box of chocolate covered chouquettes, as well as éclairs and macaroons.

"You trying to fatten me up, Princess?" He teased, and she blushed.

"_No_." She insisted, proceeding to pull croissants out of the basket. "I just remembered how much you love these."

"I mean, I'm never one to pass up anything that your parents make." Adrien said, a chouquette out of the box and taking a bite out of it. He moaned dramatically in delight as the sweet taste of the pastry hit his tastebuds and Marinette laughed at him as she took a bit out of her own chouquette. The couple spent their spontaneous picnic date on top of Notre Dame laughing and talking like everything that had happened the day before was a mere dream. For a while, they were just Marinette and Adrien. Two _normal_ people who didn't have any superhero alter egos or super villain fathers.

"You've got a little chocolate right here." Adrien told Marinette as they finished putting everything back in the basket and stood up, pointing to the same area on his own mouth. Marinette's brows furrowed and she wiped at the area with her thumb.

"Did I get it?" She asked, looking at him. He shook his head.

"Nope, here let me get it." He said, and he held up his hand as if to wipe something away, but Marinette let out a gasp of surprise when instead he cupped her face in his hand and placed a kiss on her lips.

"Got it." He said after he pulled away, smirking down at her as she blushed.

"That was-" She stammered. "_Smooth_."

Adrien chuckled. "What can I say?" He pointed to himself. "This cats got game." Marinette snorted and shook her head as she giggled.

"Let's go home." She said, ignoring his previous statement. Adrien just laughed and they both called on their transformations. Now transformed, Ladybug and Cat Noir leapt from the Notre Dame and began making their way back to Marinette's house, the carefree feeling never leaving them as they raced the whole way back.

* * *

A couple days later, Marinette and Adrien returned to school. Marinette was greeted by Alya with a bone crushing hug, and Adrien was met with the same from Nino. They hugged their best friends, knowing that what had happened during the final battle with Hawk Moth had probably scared them.

"How could you not tell us that you're Cat Noir?!" Alya asked Adrien after she had properly reunited with Marinette. "We were over here worrying about Marinette and you knew how she was the entire time!"

"I couldn't tell anyone. Especially you guys." Adrien explained. "Marinette would have had my head if I told anyone."

"He's right, I would have." Marinette confirmed. "Our identities were _supposed _to remain a secret from anyone and everyone, even out closest friends and family members, but it didn't work out that way for us."

Adrien scoffed, "That's _one way_ to put it." He said, putting his hands in his front pockets.

"Well, I'm glad that you both are okay." Alya said. "Also, Marinette, _how_ are you not limping? I saw the cut you got on the live news feed."

"Miraculous magic." Marinette explained simply, not giving any further explanation. Alya accepted it with a simple nod of her head, and the bell rang. Letting them know they had five minutes to get to class.

"I don't think I've ever been this early to school before." Marinette said as the four friends made their way up the stairs of the courtyard to their classroom.

"I don't think so either." Alya agreed. "Today should be a national holiday. 'Marinette Comes To School Early Day'!"

The four of them laughed, but it died down as they entered their classroom. Their classmates were all staring at them -well, staring at Marinette and Adrien- with wide eyes as they all now saw their two classmates in a new light. Then, one by one, they all started to clap. It was slow at first, but then it turned into a full round of applause as their classmates shouted out congratulations and thanks at the young heroes for protecting Paris and finally defeating Hawk Moth. Marinette and Adrien couldn't help but blush at the display of gratitude, and Marinette hid her face in Adrien's shoulder. Alya and Nino laughed at the couple, and they two began to clap for their friends.

"Uh, tha-thanks guys." Marinette stammered out as she and Adrien made their way to their seats.

"No, thank _you_ two." Max said as the applause died down. "For everything you've done for Paris."

Their classmates all nodded in agreement, and the two heroes smiled at their classmates.

"We were just doing our job." Adrien told them. "We're just as glad to have finally beaten Hawk Moth as the rest of you."

The bell rang again and Miss. Bustier walked into the room with a smile on her face as she greeted her students, saying a quick "Welcome back." to Adrien and Marinette. The heroes simply waved back at their teacher and the lesson began.

Over the next few weeks, Alya, Nino and Adrien helped Marinette catch up on all the homework and tests she had missed, soon enough she was up to speed and was keeping her grades up nicely. Adrien met with one of his fathers private lawyers after his fathers trial had ended. Gabriel and Nathalie were both sentenced to life in prison for their crimes against the city, which meant that Adrien was gaining his inheritance early. He had brought Marinette with him to the meeting because he didn't want to go alone, and Marinette nearly choked on her spit when the lawyer told them that with all of his inheritance as well as the many properties around the world that Gabriel left to Adrien, Adrien was one of the richest men in all of Europe and was even up in the top five.

Adrien didn't seem to mind the news, seeing as how much money he had and how rich he was wasn't really something he cared about. Although, being in the top five was something that shocked him a little, but he initially got over it.

Soon enough, final exams were coming up. Alya, Nino, Marinette and Adrien spent a lot of time up in Marinette's bedroom getting as much study time in as they possibly could, constantly quizzing each other on certain topics and helping each other on anything that was confusing. Occasionally, Chloé would be there and study with them, for she and Marinette had a long talk a week after Gabriel and Nathalie's arrest.

Chloé and Marinette actually got along quite nicely, and while it took Alya and Nino a bit of time to get used to the idea of having the other blond around, they made an effort to be friendly with her. Adrien loved that they were all getting along with his childhood best friend now, and loved how Chloé was working on her attitude towards people even more.

Exam week came and went with -thankfully- minimal breakdowns. The -now group of five- friends all passed their exams with flying colors, leaving them all jumping for joy. The five friends were practically inseparable for the entirely of the summer, all of them wanting to spend as much time together as they possibly could before going their separate ways to their separate universities when autumn rolled in. Well, all except Marinette and Adrien who had unknowingly applied to the same university and then both got accepted.

The day came where Marinette and Adrien had to return their Miraculouses to Master Fu, and say goodbye to their Kwami's. That day was full of emotional goodbye's, but the couple still stopped by Master Fu's shop every now and then to say hello to the old man as well as the Kwami's to see how they were all doing, and faster than one would think, two years went by. Adrien told Marinette that he had a special date planned for them on Christmas Eve, and wouldn't tell her anything about it no matter how much she pried for information. All he told her was to dress nice and to be ready at eight. So, she was.

Adrien picked her up at eight o'clock sharp, and Marinette missed the knowing look her father gave her boyfriend as they said goodbye to them. Adrien held his arm out to her, and she took it as he lead her down the stairs and out into the fresh air of the night.

"Will you _please _tell me where we're going?" She pleaded with him again, he laughed and shook his head.

"Marinette, what part of a _surprise_ do you not get?" He teased. "You'll see when we get there."

Marinette huffed at his response, but accepted it anyway and continued to walk with him. Her jaw dropped when he brought them to a stop and she read the sign out front.

"We're going to _L'Initial_?!" Marinette asked, bewildered. "You have to reserve a table at this place like a month in advance!"

"What can I say?" Adrien said, smiling. "I've been planning this for a while."

"Wait, how did you even get them to open on Christmas Eve?" She asked, and Adrien's eyes glinted.

"One of the cooks used to be my personal chef back before I started public school. He's an old friend and he connected me with the owner." Adrien explained. "We had a nice chat and now, here we are."

"You sure do have your ways, huh?" She asked as they walked inside.

"You have _no idea_, Princess." He said as they were seated at a table and handed menus. The couple placed their orders, and chatted away aimlessly while they waited for their dinner to be served. They talked about their classes they were taking at university as well as what they got their friends for Christmas.

"Can you believe Nino and Alya are getting _married_ next month?" Marinette asked as their waiter set their plates down in front of them. She thanked him, and he simply bowed and smiled before walking away.

"I know, crazy right?" Adrien agreed, taking a drink of his water.

"God, it feels like just yesterday Alya was calling me and screaming in my ear that Nino had proposed." Marinette giggled as she took a bite of her food.

"I helped him plan that proposal." Adrien said, placing his glass back down on the table. "I had to call in a few favors to make it happen."

"That was literally so sweet of you to do." Marinette gushed. "From what I heard it was perfect."

"It was the least I could do for Nino." Adrien said. "He _is _my best friend, after all."

"Ooh, don't let Chloé hear that." Marinette teased.

"Oh, Chloé knows she's my best friend, too." Adrien scoffed. "I can have more than one."

"That's true." Marinette agreed, and the couple continued to eat their dinner. Laughing every now and then as they talked and simply enjoyed each others company. They held hands as they left the restaurant, thanking the staff as they went by.

"Thank you for dinner." Marinette said. "It was lovely."

"It was." Adrien agreed. "But the night isn't over yet."

"Huh?" Marinette asked. "What else are we doing?"

"You'll see." He said, smirking down at her when she groaned at his vague answer. Adrien lead the way as they walked a few blocks, and Marinette grew confused when they stopped at a random street in front of a random shop that had closed up for the night.

"What are we doing here?" Marinette asked him, letting go of his hand and looking around.

"Well," Adrien said, turning to face the street. "We didn't know it at the time, but six years ago we met right" He motioned to two street lights on either side of the street, "between those two street lights. We were both learning how to use our powers and Stoneheart was running amok in the city."

"This is the street we first met on?" Marinette asked, and Adrien nodded. "I can't believe that was so long ago..."

"I know, it almost makes me feel old." Adrien said. "But then I remember that I'm twenty one years old and still have the rest of my life ahead of me."

Marinette laughed and Adrien held his hand out to her. "Come on." He said.

"Go out into the middle of the street?" She asked, and he nodded. "What if a car comes?"

"Then we'll get out of the way." He said. Reluctantly, Marinette grabbed his outstretched hand and he pulled her into the street.

"This doesn't feel safe." She said as she walked with him out into the middle of the road, and Adrien laughed.

"You used to swing from building to building on a _yoyo_, of all things, and fight magic monsters on a daily, and _walking out into the middle of the street_ doesn't feel safe to you?" He asked.

"Sh-shut up!" Marinette exclaimed. "_Sorry_ for not wanting to get _run over_."

"You're _not_ going to get run over." He told her.

"And how do _you _know that?" She asked. "You don't know what's going to happen in the future."

"Maybe not." Adrien said, finding the perfect segue. "But I know what I _want _to happen in the future."

"Yeah?" She asked. "And what exactly do you want to happen in the future?"

Adrien took in a breath, it was now or never. "I want you to say yes." He said.

"What?" She asked, her brows furrowing in confusion, only for them to shoot up in surprise as Adrien got down on one knee and pulled a ring box from his pocket.

"Marinette, I didn't know it at the time, but the day you and I met -even if we didn't know each others identities at the time- was the best day of my life." He began, and Marinette felt tear prick her eyes. "I had no idea that everything that happened that day would eventually lead up to me being right her, right now, on one knee and asking you one of the most important questions I will ever ask you."

A few tears slid down Marinette's face and she covered her mouth with her hand as he continued to speak.

"Marinette, I love you." He said. "More than I ever thought I could love someone, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Adrien opened the ring box to reveal a 10K white gold ring with a flower-shaped cluster of diamonds in it's center that was flanked by trios of smaller, accent diamonds on either side. Additional accent diamonds lined the twisted shank of the ring, and the ring shimmered brightly in the moonlight. It was absolutely beautiful.

"So, Marinette Dupain-Cheng," Adrien began. "Will you marry me?"

Marinette let out a laugh and pulled Adrien back up from his knee to kiss him hard on the lips, holding his face in her hands. She pulled away and smiled brightly up at him as she whispered a single word.

"Yes."

* * *

**A/N: THIS IS NOT THE FINAL CHAPTER. THERE'S STILL ONE MORE. **

**Anyway, uh, the engagement ring is linked to my profile if you want to see what it looks like. It's really pretty. **

**Just the epilogue is left and then this story is DONE. Still crazy to me. **

**ALSO, I have a new story coming out after I post the epilogue of this story. It's called Corrupt and it's going to be a pretty interesting story that involves Lady Misfortune and Chat Blanc being the villains of Paris. So, definitely go check it out after the epilogue is posted, which will be in a few days. **

**Review maybe?**

**~Charlotte **


	12. Epilogue

**A/N: WHEW! Here we are! The epilogue! Thank you to everyone who has read this story and enjoyed it. I've enjoyed writing this story so much and it makes me a little sad that this is the last chapter...**

**...or is it?**

* * *

**Epilogue**

_Seventeen Years Later_

Thirty-eight year old Adrien Agreste sat in his car outside of Collège Françoise Dupont waiting for his three kids to be dismissed from school for the day. It was five minutes until the dismissal bell, but Adrien didn't have anywhere else he needed to be. He was a stay at home father, and had been since he and Marinette had their first child. Marinette reminded him many times that if he wanted to find a job and work, she wouldn't mind and could cut back on her shifts at the office, but Adrien always assured her that at home with the kids was exactly where he wanted to be. He knew how it felt to rarely see your father because of work, and didn't want his own kids to experience the same thing he had as a child.

Marinette had climbed high in the fashion industry over the years, and the age of thirty-seven already had her own world famous brand, simply named 'Marinette'. People all around the world loved her designs, and Adrien was elated that Marinette had achieved her life long dream. Seeing as Marinette practically worked for herself, she made her own schedule, and made sure that she was home as often as possible unless she urgently needed back at the office, which was a rare occurrence. Marinette managed her time amazingly well, so well in fact you wouldn't believe that her time management skills when she was a teenager were next to awful. Adrien found himself chuckling as he remembered all the days Marinette came bursting into class late and stuttering an explanation out to the teacher as she made her way to her seat.

Speaking of stuttering, the dismissal bell finally rang and students began to rush out of the school, eager to get home. Adrien's eyes caught his daughter as she exited the school with her friends. She was talking to a boy, or at least, she was trying. He could see that she was stuttering immensely, and there was an intense blush on her face. Adrien chuckled again as he thought that if it weren't for the fact that his daughter had blond hair, she'd be a spitting image of Marinette right now. He watched as she began to trip, and the boy she was talking to caught her arms before she could fall over. He saw her eyes widened, and Adrien chuckled again.

"Ooh, he broke her." He said to himself, watching as she seemed to completely shut down and wave slowly as the boy walked away after biding her goodbye.

One of the back side doors of the car opened, and Adrien looked back to see his (fraternal) twin sons entering the car.

"Hey dad." Luis and Hugo greeted him simultaneously.

"Hey guys." He greeted them back with a smile, and they set their backpacks on the floor of the car as Luis closed the door and they both began putting their seatbelts on. "How was school?"

"Eh, same as always." Hugo replied. "Boring."

"Maybe for you." Luis said. "We did this really cool experiment in physics today where we had to mix these two chemicals together so they bubbled over the top. It was _so cool_."

"Oh, yeah, I guess that _was_ pretty awesome." Hugo relented.

"That does sound cool." Adrien said, and then the passenger door opened and his daughter climbed into the car, slamming the door behind her and placing her backpack on the floor.

"Hey there, Princess." Adrien greeted her as she put her seatbelt on.

"Hi dad." She greeted him as she clicked the seatbelt into the buckle.

"Who uh, who was the _boy_ you were talking to?" He asked, and laughed when she turned a dark shade of pink.

"Uh, hi-his name is Léo Arquette." She stammered. "But-but its not like that. I-I-I swear we're j-just friends."

"You know, I used to say the _exact same thing_ about your mom, and now look at us." Adrien told her, and her blush darkened. Luis and Hugo paid no mind to their dad and sisters conversations, for they were absorbed in their own little world on their phones playing games. Adrien chuckled and lightly ruffled his daughters hair.

"I'm just teasing, Emma." He said, starting the car. "No need to turn into a tomato."

"Just drive, dad." Emma said, sinking into her seat. Adrien laughed and pulled away from the school, heading in the direction of their house.

"Oh, just so you guys know..." Adrien began as he turned onto the road of their neighborhood. "There is a _surprise_ waiting for you at home."

"A surprise?" Hugo piped up. "What kind of surprise?"

"Well, you'll see when we get home, now won't you?" Adrien answered. Hugo groaned at his fathers vague answer, and Adrien just chuckled at him as he pulled into the driveway.

"Wait, that's moms car." Emma said, sitting up straight. Luis and Hugo scrambled around in the back seat to look out the window and confirmed in their heads that _yes, _that was indeed their moms car.

"Is mom home from her business trip early?!" Luis asked as Adrien parked the car next to Marinette's.

"Why don't you head inside and see for yourself?" Adrien asked. Smiles broke out onto all of their faces and they quickly unbuckled their seatbelts, grabbed their backpacks, and dashed out of the car and into the house. Adrien just laughed as he got out of the car and followed behind them into the house. He closed the door behind him and hung his keys on one of the hooks next to the door, walking down the entrance hall and into the living room.

"Mom!" The kids cheered as they ran in and saw her sitting on the couch. Marinette quickly stood up and smiled at them.

"Hi guys!" She greeted them and they all ran over to hug her. "I've missed you _so much_!"

"Why are you home early?" Hugo asked.

"Well, I finished everything I needed to do ahead of schedule and I was on a plane back home last night." She explained.

"How was Italy?" Emma asked her. "Was it beautiful?"

"_Absolutely_ beautiful." Marinette confirmed. "Maybe we can go there on a family vacation this summer?"

She looked up at him and arched an eyebrow, and the kids all looked at him with with hope in their eyes. Adrien shrugged.

"I don't see why not." He said, and the kids cheered happily. Marinette laughed and stepped away from them and up to her husband. He rested his hands on her waist and she laced her fingers together at the nape of his neck.

"I missed you." He said.

"You saw me this morning when I got home." She said, smiling.

"I still missed you." He told her, and she giggled.

"I missed you, too." She said, and pulled him in for a kiss.

"Gross! Mom and dad are swapping spit!" Luis exclaimed, causing the couple to break apart and laugh at their son.

"Luis!" Emma slapped her brothers shoulder. "You ruined their moment!"

"Their 'moment' was burning my eyes." Luis sassed back.

"Is it over?" Hugo piped up. "Can I open my eyes now?" They all looked over to see that Hugo had in fact closed his eyes upon seeing his parents kissing. Adrien just chuckled and wrapped his arm around Marinette's waist, pulling her close to him.

"Yeah, you can open your eyes now, buddy." He said, and Hugo slowly opened his eyes, thinking it to be a trick. After seeing that his parents were in fact no longer kissing, he opened his eyes completely and let out a dramatic sigh of relief.

"Thank _god_." He said.

"Alright, the three of you, head to the dining room and get started on your homework." Marinette instructed. "I need to talk to your dad."

The kids did as they were told and began making their way to the dining room with their schoolbags in hand, and Adrien looked to his wife in confusion as they left. As soon as she was sure they were out of earshot, she crossed her arms over her chest and sighed heavily.

"After you left to go get the kids from school, she called again." She told him, and it took Adrien a moment to figure out who she was talking about. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"She gets five minutes of phone time every other week and she wastes it trying to talk to me." He scoffed. "I'm sure she has other people she'd rather talk to, why does she keep insisting that she talk to me?"

"I don't _know_, Adrien." Marinette said. "And I don't think we _will_ know unless we go to the prison and talk to her like she keeps asking us to."

"I am _not_ going to go visit my fathers crazed assistant in jail, Marinette." Adrien said. "I have nothing to say to Nathalie, and frankly, I don't really care about anything she has to say to me now. She's had nineteen years to reach out, and she's choosing _now_?"

"Maybe she wasn't..._ready_ before?" Marinette suggested. "I don't know, I don't have all the information. She just asked me to tell you _again_ that she wants -_needs_ to talk to you."

"I don't really care what Nathalie _needs_." He said. "What _I _need is for her to stop reaching out and get it through her thick skull that I don't want to talk to her."

"She's just going to keep calling-"

"Then we'll block the number." Adrien said. "Marinette, I want _nothing_ to do with _Nathalie_ or my _father_ ever again. Knowing them, they'll just try to manipulate me, manipulate _us_ into believing that what they did was _right_. That turning people into literal monsters just to get two pieces of jewelry to bring my mom back from the dead was _worth it_. It wasn't right _or _worth it."

"Adrien, you don't need to convince me of that. I know that already." Marinette said. "But what if what Nathalie has to say to you will give you some kind of...closure?"

"Closure?" Adrien asked.

"Closure that you never got after finding out your father was Hawk Moth." Marinette said. "Maybe what she has to say will finally put your mind at ease."

"I doubt it." Adrien deadpanned.

"Adrien, just-"

"I'm gonna go help Emma with her physics homework. We both know how she is when it comes to anything involving science." He said, and turned abruptly on his heel and walked out of the living room, heading in the direction of the dining room.

Marinette watched him walk away and sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of her nose between her fingers. She wished more than anything that Nathalie would stop calling them and leave them alone. As much as Marinette thought that there was a possibility that whatever Nathalie had to say Adrien may give him the closure he needed, if Adrien didn't want to talk to her, Marinette certainly wasn't going to _make _him.

Truth be told, Marinette wasn't even sure how Nathalie managed to get their home phone number. Did prisons provide phone books when they gave their inmates their scheduled time on the phone? Marinette didn't know, but it seemed to be the only logical explanation as to how Nathalie was even able to contact them.

_We should just change our home phone number._ Marinette thought, and then began to make her way to the kitchen to get started on making dinner while Adrien helped the kids with their homework.

* * *

"Mom, I have really missed your cooking." Emma said as they all sat around the dining room table to eat dinner. "I mean, dads is decent, but nothing compared to yours."

"What did you say you wanted for your birthday again? A new phone?" Adrien playfully taunted, taking a drink of his water. "Maybe I should rethink getting that for you."

"I mean! Your cooking is _great_, daddy!" Emma rephrased, and leaned her head on her fathers arm and looking up into his eyes. "I love you?"

Her dad just began to laugh, "Eat your dinner, Emma." He said, and Emma just gave him a smile as she sat back up and began to eat.

"Yes dad." She said.

"So, did I miss anything exciting while I was away?" Marinette asked, and Emma shook her head.

"Nope, nothing." She said.

"Emma has a boyfriend!" Hugo exclaimed, and Emma glared at him.

"I do _not_!" She argued, and saw the look her mom gave her. "He's _not_ my boyfriend."

"But you _want_ him to be." Luis piped up.

"No, I _don't_." She said. "Léo and I are just f-friends."

"Your dad said the same thing about me when we were your age and now look at us." Her mother said, taking a bite of her food.

"Thats what dad said!" Emma said. "You two have like, some kind of weird, freaky mind connection."

"That's what being married for nearly twenty years does to you." Her dad said.

"I'm surprised you're not going all 'protective dad' over this, Adrien." Marinette said to her husband.

"Oh believe me, I very well plan on meeting this _Léo _guy." Adrien responded casually.

"Dad!" Emma groaned. "_Please_, don't embarrass me in front of him."

"You do enough of that yourself." Hugo said, and Emma slapped him across the shoulder.

"Hey, that's not fair! You know I can't hit you back!" Hugo argued.

"Sucks to suck, Hugo." Emma sassed her brother.

"Alright, you two, knock it off." Their mother scolded them, and then smiled at Emma. "Well, Emma, I'm sure this..."

"Léo."

"_Léo_ is a very nice boy." Marinette finished. "You should invite him over."

"I-I-I can't just _invite him over_." Emma said.

"_Relax_." Her mother said. "I didn't mean _just _him. Invite some of your other friends, too. Hold a group study session. How do you think I spent time with your dad when we were in school?"

"We never really had group study sessions-"

"_Hush_, Adrien." Marinette silenced her husband. "I'm helping my daughter with her boy problems."

"Can you help Emma with her boy problems _after_ dinner?" Hugo asked. "I'm trying to eat here and all this talk about boyfriends is making me lose my appetite."

Adrien couldn't help but snort at his sons words. He swore that boy reminded him a lot of Plagg sometimes.

"Of course," Marinette said through her giggles. "Sorry, Hugo."

* * *

Nathalie Sancoeur had been trying to get ahold of Adrien for weeks, and while he answered the phone when she called sometimes, he would immediately hang up when he realized it was her. Nathalie was starting to grow agitated at how difficult this was, but she couldn't stop calling. They needed to know. Marinette and Adrien needed to know what was going to happen. Nathalie knew, she had been told. She knew after she found out that Adrien and Marinette needed to know. They needed to know so they could prepare themselves for it. Maybe get out of the country?No, they weren't the type to flee when things got ugly.

She would know.

Adrien was being stubborn, Nathalie knew that. He got his stubbornness from his father, although Adrien's stubbornness was balanced out by his his immense patience. Something he had definitely gotten from his mother. However, his stubbornness was beginning to get on Nathalie's nerves. He needed to _know_! This wasn't something she could explain in the five minute time limit she got on the payphone every other week. She needed him and Marinette to come to the prison and see her so she could explain properly.

But that stubbornness.

Nathalie knew that Adrien was probably questioning why she was reaching out now for the first time in nearly twenty years, and was probably even _annoyed_ that she had taken nearly twenty years to reach out to him, but this wasn't something she could ignore. She had to tell him. It was going to happen soon, and she _needed_ to tell him.

A bang was heard down the hall and the alarms started to blare. Nathalie's eyes widened as she realized she was too late.

It was happening.

* * *

Later that night after Luis, Emma and Hugo had all gone to sleep, Marinette and Adrien were getting ready for bed. Marinette had just finished putting her pajamas on when she was pulled into a long, tender kiss by her husband.

"_You_ are not allowed to leave for five days ever again." He said huskily as he began to kiss down her neck.

"Did you miss me _that _much, kitty?" She giggled.

"You have _no idea_, bugaboo." He replied, kissing back up her neck until he reached her lips. Marinette hummed with delight into the kiss and smiled up at him when they pulled away. He placed another quick kiss on her lips before walking into their bathroom to brush his teeth. Marinette walked over to the bed and sat down, grabbing the remote to the tv and turning it on. She turned to the late night news channel just to see if there were any interesting stories, and she felt her blood run cold when she saw the headline in capital letters at the bottom of the screen.

"Adrien!" She called for her husband, who came rushing out of the bathroom.

"What is it?" He asked, and she pointed to the tv.

"Look." She said, turning up the volume.

_"It's just been reported that earlier tonight, Gabriel Agreste, who was arrested nearly twenty years ago after he was revealed to be Hawk Moth, has _escaped_ from prison." _The reporters voice came through the tv speakers.

It was their next words that made Marinette and Adrien's hearts sink to their stomachs.

_"Officials say that Agreste _wasn't_ working alone in his escape, but his partner with whom he escaped with was _not _Nathalie Sancoeur, his former assistant who was also arrested nearly twenty years ago after it was revealed that she was Mayura, a villain who had been helping Hawk Moth in his mission to get the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculouses."_

The thought of Gabriel being back out there with an unidentified partner in crime shot fear through the couple, and also left them with a boat load of questions. Who helped Gabriel escape? _Why_ did they help Gabriel escape? Why hadn't Gabriel escaped with Nathalie? What was Gabriel going to do now that he was out of jail and on the run?

"Well," Adrien said. "So much for going to Italy this summer."

* * *

**A/N: You all know what this means...THERE'S A SEQUEL COMING!**** I haven't started writing it yet, but even after I do start writing it, it won't be posted for a while. So, I'm sorry, but you're going to have to live with this cliffhanger for a little bit. Please don't kill me. If you kill me, you won't get the sequel :P**

**Also, I couldn't wait a few days to post the epilogue so here it is literally two hours after I posted chapter 11. BUT, that also means the first chapter of my new story called Corrupt is officially up! You guys can check that story out and follow along with that while you wait for the sequel to come out. **

**Thank you to everyone who has been following along with this story! I can't wait to start writing the sequel! It's going to be great!**

**Review maybe?**

**~Charlotte**


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